Just as we were all breathing a sigh of relief at the small number of cases of COVID-19, a new variant appeared. According the World Health Organization (WHO)it has been detected new variant of coronavirus XE and what has made the situation worse is the fact that this variant has a much higher transmissibility rate than the Omicron variantwhich until now was considered notoriously transmissible than its ancestors.
What is even more alarming is that the Omicron variant caused the third wave of COVID-19 all over the world in a very short time. Although hospitalization cases were fewer during this wave, the speed at which the variant took over the Delta strain was surprising.
Therefore, the COVID XE variant is the recently detected variant And here are 5 facts about her compiled by global health experts.
5 facts about the new recombinant variant of the COVID-19 virus: “XE”
XE is a recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2
The WHO has warned us long before against the appearance of recombinants. Deltacron was the first known recombinant and, at the time, several recombinants of the coronavirus such as Flurona were detected.
The XE variant is said to be a recombinant of Omicron BA1 and BA2.
Recombination between viral strains is not something new. A recombinant variant occurs when an individual is infected with more than one variant that recombines with each other by sharing genetic material.
XE is a potential variant of concern
The WHO in its new report highlighted its initial findings on this variant of potentially concern.
“A total of 637 cases of XE, a recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, have been confirmed in the UK so far. The first of these has a sample date of January 19, 2022.” Says an October 2021 report from the UK Health Security Agency; this report was updated on March 25.
On the aggressiveness of the variant, Hopkins says: “This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate and we cannot yet confirm if it has a true growth advantage. So far there is not enough evidence to draw any conclusions about the transmissibility, severity or efficacy of the vaccine.”
The WHO assigns a variant of concern to those strains of the coronavirus that have a change in genetic makeup that is detrimental to humanity and have a high growth rate.
XE is highly transmissible
It is said that the XE variant is highly transmissible. It is reportedly 10 times more transmissible than the Omicron variant. Until now, the variant had the highest transmission rate of all previous strains that existed before. Omicron transmission rate it was so high that in a short time it swept the world with a whole wave of COVID cases.
Details on the severity of XE awaited
According to the WHO, more details are awaited on whether there is any significant difference in transmission and severity between the above Omicron strains and the recombinant.
The Omicron variant that led the third wave of COVID-19, has currently paralyzed normal life in China. In March, China recorded 104,000 COVID-19 infections, most of them in Shanghai.
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