WHO warns of the most contagious hybrid variant ever

According to the WHO report, XE is a recombinant variant and is a hybrid between two sublines of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2.

The WHO said XE “remains in the Omicron family”, and will only be considered a separate variant if there are significant differences in transmission and toxicity characteristics.

The XE variant was first spotted in the UK on January 19. Up to now, the number of XE infections has reached about 600 cases.

“Initial estimates suggest that XE is 10% more contagious than BA.2. However, this information needs to be studied further,” the WHO report said. The organization also notes that while XE currently represents only a small fraction of the total number of cases, the increased likelihood of transmission means that this variant could become dominant in the near future.

BA.2 is currently the dominant variant globally, accounting for nearly 86% of all sequenced COVID-19 cases. This is also said to be the most contagious variant, higher than the original Omicron line.

Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency (HSA), said there was not enough evidence so far to draw conclusions about the potential for transmission, severity or effectiveness of the vaccine. apply for COVID-19 for the XE variant.

WHO states it will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the public health risk associated with recombinant variants such as XE, and will provide updates as more evidence becomes available.

In addition to XE, WHO is also monitoring another recombinant variant called XD, a cross between Delta and Omicron. Variant XD has been detected in France, Denmark and Belgium.

Minh Hanh