2023-08-16 04:44:15
Doctors are advised to be vigilant against the EG 5.1 variant of Covid, known as Aeris. On August 9, the World Health Organization added EG.5.1 to the list of variants of interest. Only one case of Aeris has been recorded in India so far.
A case of Aeris in India was reported from Maharashtra on May 10. After this, 335 samples were collected from all over the country, but not a single one was found to be positive. Although Aeris exhibits only low severity, moderate growth potential and a moderate ability to evade antibodies, doctors say it would be wise to take safety precautions such as masks.
EG 5.1 is a continuous evolution of XBB 1.9.2. Its spike amino acid profile is similar to XBB 1.5. First reported on February 17, the variant was declared an observed Covid variant on July 19. As of August 7, 7354 sequences from 51 countries had been submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) by EG5.
The majority of these sequences are from China—2247. 1356 sequences were submitted from the United States, 1040 from South Korea, 814 from Japan, 392 from Canada and 158 from Australia. Countries such as Japan and South Korea also noticed an increase in the prevalence of Aeris and hospital admissions due to Covid during this period.
In India, cases have been declining since the April 2023 small wave of Covid-19 due to the XBB variant. Before XBB, BA5 and BA2 variants were also reported in the country.
According to the World Health Organization, EG5 has an additional amino acid mutation, F456L, in the spike protein compared to XBB1.9.2 and XBB1.5. EG.5.1 also has an additional spike mutation, Q52H. After vaccines, masks, social distancing and hand washing have been found to be the most effective in the fight against Covid. Even though Aeris is not a threat at the moment, health workers advise not to let up.
Content Summary: Doctors urge people to stay vigilant against COVID-19 variant EG.5.1
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