Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

Yacold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

.jp. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

Hi, and welcome to COVID-Quick quickly, a scientific American podcast series.

This is your fast track update on the COVID pandemic.

We bring you up to speed on the science behind the most urgent questions about the virus and the disease.

We demystify the research and help you understand what it really means.

I'm Tanya Lewis.

I'm Josh Fishman.

And we're Scientific American Senior Health Editors.

Today, we'll look at how new Omicron sub-variants are already increasing cases and hospitalizations.

And we'll try and figure out if fall vaccine boosters should contain standard Omicron or some of those new sub-variants instead.

It's the height of summer here, and we were kind of hoping for a break, but we're already seeing another COVID surge.

This time, it's driven by Amicron sub-variants, BA5 and BA4.

What do we know about them so far?

Yeah, Josh, well, unfortunately, the lull after the last surge didn't last very long.

BA4 and BA5 are offshoots of the Amicron variant,

a version of which caused a massive wave earlier this year.

BA5 and, to a lesser extent, BA4, now make up more than 70% of COVID infections in the U.S.

And they are the most capable of evading our immune response from vaccination or infection of any

...