WHO has issued a caution against XE, a new alternative of Omicron that was first discovered in the UK. It has suggested that it could be more transmittable than any Covid strain so far.
XE is a merger or recombinant of both sub-variants (BA.1 and B.A.2) of Omicron.
A top Russian expert stated that, the newest coronavirus variant dubbed Omicron XE is more transmittable than prior ones, but is improbable to trigger a new wave of the pandemic.
According to sources Kamil Khafizov who is the head of a group working on new methods to diagnose human diseases at the sanitary watchdog’s Central Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology said that “Latest variants will be slightly more communicable that all the prior strains”
Quoting experts, he further added that the XE variant is likely to trigger a “10% rise in communicability”
However, the fact to note is that most of the people caught the virus and recovered from it between the months of January and March, which caused a powerful herd immunity,” he stressed.
“4 out of 5 new cases in the country are being triggered by the BA.2 ‘stealth Omicron’ variant, which was the most communicable is the proof of the fact that I explained.” He revealed, the number of new patients, however, remained at a bare minimum. He further added.
He said that 10% rise in communicability would barely generate extreme issue as people were “not falling ill in large numbers with the very communicable ‘stealth Omicron’ strain spreading extensively”.
“It will improbably trigger a new wave of infections intrinsically,” the expert moreover stated.
The recombinant of the Omicron XE strain comprises of fragments of BA.1 and BA.2 sub-lines, with most of its genome related to BA.2 or “stealth Omicron”, which was later proclaimed as the most transmittable of all by WHO. To read our blog on “WHO addresses the severity of a new variant of highly transmissible Omicron,” click here.
