A sub-mutant of the Omicron strain is raising concern again in the health community in the United States and Britain, with the rate of cases increasing in the past weeks, and officials and experts have called for the necessity of obtaining vaccines, but there is no evidence indicating the possibility of a new health crisis.
The XBB.1.5 sub-mutant is a modified version of the XBB variant, which was discovered in Singapore, India and more than 30 other countries in October.
The XBB variant is a combination of two previous Omicron strains, which led to a wave of infections earlier this year.
And US media indicated, during the past week, an increase in the rate of cases infected with the XBB.1.5 variant, which now represents about 41 percent of new cases in the United States, according to the network. CNBC Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US Department of Health.
The agency estimates that the XBB.1.5 variant was responsible for 4 out of every 10 confirmed cases in the United States for the week ending December 31. This represents an increase of nearly 20 percent from the week ending December 24.
This raised concerns about the possibility of more cases emerging nationwide, according to Axios website.
And in an interview with CBS“We expect the dominant variant to be in the northeast region of the country and to spread to all regions of the country,” said Dr. Barbara Mahon, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She points out British data It also indicates that it represents one in every 25 cases in the UK, which could add pressure to the already overstretched NHS in winter.
CNBC says XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly in the United States because it has a greater ability to escape immunity and adhere to cells than other sub-variants of the XBB family.
The XBB variant was first identified in India in August and quickly became the dominant subspecies there, evolving into other subspecies XBB.1 and XBB.1.5.
Scientists and public health officials have been closely watching the XBB family for months because it has several mutations that could make vaccines, including those boosted against Omicron, less effective.
Andrew Picos, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, told CNBC that XBB.1.5 differs from the other two variants in the family because it has an additional mutation that makes it bind better to cells.
“The virus needs to bind tightly to cells to be more efficient at entry, and that can help the virus be more effective at infecting people,” Picos added.
Yunlong Richard Cao, a scientist and assistant professor at Peking University, posted data on Twitter indicating that XBB.1.5 not only evaded antibodies more than XBB, but was also better at binding to cells through the receptor.
The superior growth advantage of XBB.1.5 has been well-documented by many colleagues @JPWeiland @LongDesertTrain @EricTopol. Here I’ll add some experimental data:
1) XBB.1.5 is equally immune evasive as XBB.1, but
2) XBB.1.5 has a much higher hACE2 binding affinity. 1/ pic.twitter.com/jsk7gcyfu4— Yunlong Richard Cao (@yunlong_cao) December 28, 2022
In a study published earlier this month in the journal Cell, scientists at Columbia University warned that the emergence of sub-variants such as the XBB family could “lead to a significant increase in infections as well as reinfection” and could “more effectively harm current vaccines
In addition, the XBB subfamily variants are also resistant to Evusheld, a cocktail of antibodies used by people with weakened immune systems to prevent Covid infection.
The scientists described the resistance of the XBB sub-variants to the vaccines’ antibodies as “concerning”.
However, these warnings were accompanied by reassurances that there was no indication that XBB.1.5 would cause more serious symptoms than the previous variants.
An infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had warned before leaving office in the White House that sub-variants of the XBB family reduce the immunity provided by additional doses.
“You can expect some protection, but not optimal protection,” Fauci told reporters during a news conference in November.
Picos said XBB.1.5, along with holiday travel, may cause cases to rise in the United States, but said the boosters appeared to prevent severe disease.
He stressed the need to obtain booster doses, especially for people most at risk, to provide continuous protection against severe diseases with these new variants.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told Mail Online that the new mutant variant was a “wake-up call” and called for “encouraging those eligible for booster shots and expanding the circle of those eligible to receive them”.
Axois says that there is no information about expectations for its rapid spread and the extent of its spread in the coming period, and it is unclear whether there are specific symptoms associated with the new variant.
But John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, told Archyde.com he expects cases to peak in mid-January.
“In each of the two previous winters, we’ve seen a peak in mid-January…and I would expect the same thing to happen this year,” Moore said. But the difference between the past two years and this year is that there hasn’t been a significant increase in death rates.
CBS said the increased spread of XBB.1.5 comes as hospitalizations across the United States have accelerated in recent weeks.
The pace of hospitalizations is now worse than last summer’s peak in many areas, but still lower than it was last winter.
“There is no indication at this point that XBB.1.5 is more serious,” said Mahon, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But I think it’s a really good time for people to do the things that we’ve said for a long time, which is to look for better ways to protect themselves,” like getting booster shots, improving ventilation and other prevention measures.
Concern about this sub-variant has increased, in recent weeks, after it appeared in many Asian countries, while China is witnessing a huge increase in the number of Omicron cases at the present time.
Countries such as France, Britain, Italy and the United States imposed checks on travelers coming from China, four weeks after Beijing canceled the “zero Covid” policy, which included imposing closures and conducting mass checks.
The wave of injuries overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, especially among the elderly and the sick, many of whom were not fully vaccinated.
However, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention considered that imposing mandatory Covid-19 checks on travelers coming from China was “unjustified”, despite the increase in the number of infections in China.