WHO monitoring new XE strain of omicron, but it may not stick
It might be more transmissible, but that doesn’t mean it’s more hardy.
So say epidemiologists who are monitoring the newly spawned XE variant of omicron known as a “recombinant” strain, born in a person infected with two versions of omicron. XE, made up of omicron BA.1 and “stealth omicron” B.A.2, was first detected in the U.K. in January and now numbers more than 600 cases, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency.
The World Health Organization put it on the map Monday by mentioning the monitoring in a report, reported ABC News. The agency said that preliminary estimates indicate XE is 10% more transmissible than BA.2.
Omicron XE is just a run-of-the-mill variant, the kind that come and go.
“A recombinant variant occurs when an individual becomes infected with two or more variants at the same time, resulting in a mixing of their genetic material within the patient’s body,” the U.K. Health Security Agency said in a briefing last month. “This is not an unusual occurrence, and several recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified over the course of the pandemic. As with any other coronavirus (COVID-19) variant, the vast majority do not confer any advantage to the virus and die out relatively quickly.”
Preliminary research indicates that XE might be the most transmissible strain yet, but it is still being studied to find out just how contagious it is, reported WSNS-TV.
“Right now, there’s really no public health concern,” Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, told ABC News, where he is a contributor. “Recombinant variants happen over and over. In fact, the reason that this is the XE variant recombinant is that we’ve had XA, XB, XC, XD already, and none of those have turned out to be any real concern.”
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