India has detected its first case of Coronavirus variant XE from Mumbai amid concerns over the nature of the new variant. The patients with the new variant haven’t shown any severe symptoms so far.
XE is a combination or recombinant of both sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) of Omicron. The Union Health Ministry said that the present evidence does not suggest the presence of XE variant of Covid denying media reports of the first case of the new mutant in Mumbai.
As per the initial studies, the XE variant has a growth rate of 9.8 percent over that of BA.2, also known as the stealth variant because of its ability to evade detection. The World Health Organization has said the latest mutant may be more transmissible than the previous ones.
Most contagious variant?
According to studies, the variant is 10 times more transmissible than BA.2 subvariant or Stealth Omicron, which was termed as the variant of concern due to high transmissibility rate.
Since the variant has high transmissibility, it could mean that the mutant could become dominant in the future. There is also a high risk of another Covid wave triggered by this variant.
What experts say?
Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore, said that the new XE variant of the coronavirus is not a matter of concern as it is not likely to cause any more severity than other sub-variants of Omicron.
“Variants will come because people are travelling. What we know of the variant (XE) is that it is not a point of concern,” Kang said.
“We were worried about BA.2 but it did not cause more serious disease than BA.1. XE does not cause more serious disease than BA.1 or BA.2 (sub-variants of Omicron),” she said.
Global Impact
The new XE hybrid variant of Omicron was first detected in the UK on January 19, 2022. Since then, 637 cases of the XE recombinant variant have been confirmed in the UK.
The XE variant accounts for less than 1% of total Covid cases that have undergone genomic sequencing in the UK.
Besides UK and India, the variant has also been detected in Thailand and New Zealand.
Symptoms
According to WHO, the XE variant is currently being monitored as part of the Omicron variant. Its symptoms are considered as similar to Omicron including fever, sore throat, cough and cold, scratchy throat, skin irritation and discoloration and gastrointestinal distress.
What to Expect?
Some health experts have suggested that XE is not the last variant and future subvariants are to be identified as well, New York Post reported.
The subvariant hasn’t been reported across many countries including the US, but it doesn’t mean that the mutant is not already circulating there.
Another virologist pointed that the variant suggests that the pandemic hasn’t ended, the Covid continues.
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