Appeared since January, still Omicron-Life Health

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, it is unlikely that XE – a recombinant virus between 2 sub-variants of Omicron – spreads faster than BA.2 when it has appeared in the UK for 2.5 months but still cannot overwhelm.

The new statement of the World Health Organization (WHO) about XE – a subtype of Omicron – created based on the recombination of two common strains BA.1 and BA.2 has attracted attention and It immediately attracted attention as a new strain, especially after the WHO statement stated that the transmissibility of XE was 10% higher than BA.2.

However, according to the UK Health Security Administration (UKHSCA), XE has actually been around since January 19 and from then until March 2, 637 new cases were reported in the UK.

XE is the recombination result of 2 sub-variants BA.1 and BA.2 of SARS-CoV-2 (Illustrated from the Internet)

NDTV said that the UK has experienced a record increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the past days. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, 1 in 13 people contracted the virus in the week before March 27. However, XE was found in less than 1% of all sequenced cases.

According to WHO, XE is still considered to belong to Omicron at least until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics are found.

Doctor Truong Huu Khanh (advisor of Infection Division at Children’s Hospital 1, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Union of Infectious Diseases) analyzed that the reason WHO discussed XE was because it found it could spread faster. However, the statement also said that further consideration is needed, because even this faster spread is unlikely.

“XE has been around since January but still doesn’t prevail in the UK community, so it’s unlikely it’s spreading faster because which one spreads faster, that’s going to dominate, as Omicron quickly overwhelmed Delta and BA.2 also quickly overwhelmed BA.1. But even if it spreads faster without causing more severe disease, there is no problem,” he said.

Doctor Truong Huu Khanh also said that the phenomenon of the virus recombining and mutating to create sub-branches of a mutant is nothing new. Even Delta actually has many sub-clades, but it is not discussed because there is no difference in transmission or virulence.

Omicron did indeed have BA.3, but it was not discussed later because it did not overwhelm previous subtypes and was not shown to pose a greater risk of disease.

“In addition, the fact that there are many people in the community who have both immunity from the vaccine and immunity because they have recovered from the disease will help limit the number of cases even if a new strain or a new subtype occurs. According to statistics, people infected with Delta can still be infected with Omicron again, but the rate is still lower than that of people who have never been infected; but once infected with BA.1, the possibility of BA.2 infection is extremely low, only a few parts per million (according to statistics from Denmark)” – Dr. Khanh analyzed.

Therefore, according to him, should not worry about XE. Viruses do not stop mutating but often in the direction of taming with humans, spreading faster and faster but the disease is getting milder, Omicron is an example.