After the variant BA.2 of omicron became the dominant strain in some countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning about XE, a new mutant of the omicron variant that could be more transmissible than any SARS-CoV-2 lineage detected so far.
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Currently, the WHO He watches over three new mutations that he named XD, XF, and XE. According to early research, XE is a mutant hybrid of the two BA.1 and BA.2 subvariants of omicron.
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This variant was first detected in the UK on January 19 and since then more than 600 sequencings have been reported and confirmed. It is also located in other countries such as Thailand. Early estimates indicate that it is about 10% more transmissible compared to BA.2.
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However, the international organization clarified that, although it has been considered that it may be more contagious than BA.2, more data is required to confirm the suspicions about the transmissibility of the new recombinant lineage, as well as its degree of mortality. and its resistance to vaccines.
“XE belongs to the omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, are reported. WHO continues to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants, along with other variants of SARS-CoV-2, and will provide updates as more evidence becomes available,” WHO stated in its report.
In this sense, the BA.2 variant of omicron continues to represent the most contagious sublineage in the United States, although the lethality it represents is lower due to the application of vaccines against covid-19.
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Regarding the other strains, it should be noted that according to a report recently published by the United Kingdom Health Services Agency, the two called XD and XF are combinations of the delta variant and BA.1, or the so-called “deltacron” strains. which have been talked about for months, but have not had major significant effects.
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