The UK is studying a new XE version of Covid-19, while India reports the 1st case
Key Takeaways:
- ON TUESDAY, the UK detected a new Covid-19 variation, XE, a mutation of the Omicron variant strains.
- According to the UKHSA, XE exhibited a growth rate of 9.8 percent higher than the previously highly transmissible stealth BA.2 Omicron strain.
- All Omicron variations are less severe, hence there is no proof that XE causes more severe disease.
On Tuesday, a new Covid-19 variant, XE, a mutation of the Omicron variant strains, was discovered in the UK. Early indicators show it could be roughly 10% more transmissible than other Omicron mutations.
According to official numbers, 637 XE cases had been found in England as of March 22, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). XE is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. Such varieties are classified as "recombinant," according to Professor Susan Hopkins, the UKHSA's top medical advisor, and they normally die out "quite fast."
"There is insufficient proof to conclude transmissibility, severity, or vaccine effectiveness," Hopkins told 'The Sun.'
According to the UKHSA, XE had a growth rate of 9.8% higher than the so-called stealth BA.2 Omicron strain, which was previously highly transmissible.
"Because this estimate has not stayed stable as new data have been added," the FDA said, "it cannot yet be taken to estimate recombinant growth advantage."
The UKHSA stated that "numbers were too small for the XE recombinant to be evaluated by area."
While there are indicators of "community transmission" of XE in England, it accounts for fewer than 1% of the coronavirus cases that have been fully sequenced, as per the agency.
Thailand and New Zealand have both recognized the XE variation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), anything evidence is needed before more can be said about the mutation.
"Early estimations imply a community growth rate advantage of 10% compared to BA.2," it stated.
"However, this finding has to be confirmed." Until major changes in transmission and illness features, including severity, can be established, XE belongs to the Omicron variant."
There is no evidence that XE causes more severe disease, as all Omicron variants have been demonstrated to be less severe.