In the nearly five years since COVID first emerged, you'd be forgiven should you've lost track of the number of latest strains we've seen. Some have had a greater impact than others, nonetheless Virologists have documented Thousands of
The latest variety to make headlines called XEC.. This Omicron subspecies has been reported primarily within the Northern Hemisphere, but now it Discovered in Australia too
So what can we find out about XEC?
Is COVID still a thing?
People are actually testing less for COVID and underreporting it. Excitement Track the virus often ending.
However, Australia continues to be collecting and reporting. COVID data. Although the variety of cases is prone to be much higher than the number documented (approx 275,000 so far this year), we are able to still have some idea of after we are seeing significant waves versus periods of low activity.
Australia saw its last COVID peak June 2024. Since then, cases have been on the decline.
But SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, is unquestionably still around.
What varieties are circulating now?
essential Variants of COVID. Currently circulating worldwide include BA.2.86, JN.1, KP.2, KP.3 and XEC. All of them are descendants of omicron.
A variant of XEC was first discovered In Italy In May 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated it as a kind.Under supervisionIn September
Since its discovery, XEC has spread. In greater than 27 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. As of mid-September, the very best variety of cases have been identified in countries including the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
XEC is currently constructing around 20% of cases in Germany, 12 percent in the UK And About 6 percent in the US.
Photo by Center for Aging Better/Pixels
Although XEC is a minority variant globally, it appears to have a developmental advantage over other circulating variants. We don't know why yet, but reports suggest it might be possible. Spread more easily in comparison with other variables.
For this reason, it’s predicted that XEC may change into the dominant variant worldwide in the approaching months.
How about in Australia?
The latest Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report It was noted that there’s an increasing proportion of recently organized XEC.
In Australia, 329 SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected from August 26 to September 22 have been uploaded. AstracaAustralia's National Genomics Surveillance Platform for COVID.
gave The majority of the setting (301 of 329, or 91.5%) were sub-lineages of JN.1, including KP.2 (17 of 301) and KP.3 (236 of 301). The remaining 8.5% (28 of 329) were recombinants containing a number of omicron sublineages, including XEC.
Estimates based on data from GISAID, a world repository of viral sequences, suggest that XEC is forming About 5 percent of cases In Australia, or 16 out of 314 samples were sequenced.
Queensland reported the very best rates previously 30 days (8%, or eight out of 96), followed by South Australia (5%, or five out of 93), Victoria (5%, or one out of 20 ) and New South Wales (3%, or two out of 71). WA recorded zero runs out of 34. No data was available for other states and territories.
What can we find out about XEC? What is Recombinant?
The XEC variant is believed to be a recombinant progeny of two previously identified omicron subvariants, KS.1.1 and KP.3.3. Recombinant variants are formed when two variants infect the host at the identical time, allowing the virus to vary genetic information. This results in the emergence of a brand new species with characteristics of each “parent” lineages.
KS.1.1 is one in every of the group commonly known as “FLiRT”. VariablesWhile KP.3.3 is one in every of the variations of “FLuQE”. These two disparate groups have recently collaborated. Increase in COVID infections Worldwide
WHO Naming Agreements A mixture of letters is commonly used for brand new COVID variants to point latest forms, especially those arising from recombination events between existing lineages. “X” often refers to a. recombinant variant (as with XBB, for instance), while subsequent letters indicate specific lineages.
We still know little or no concerning the specific properties of XEC, and the way it differs from other types. But there isn’t any evidence that symptoms shall be more severe than earlier versions of the virus.
What can we know concerning the variations in this sort? In the S gene that encodes for the spike protein we are able to find the T22N mutation (inherited from KS.1.1) in addition to Q493E (from KP.3.3) and others. Variations
Knows omicron lineage.
Do vaccines still work well against XEC?
The latest Monitoring data shows no significant increase in hospitalizations for COVID. This suggests that current vaccines still provide effective protection against severe outcomes from circulating variants.
As the virus continues to vary, so will the vaccine firms. Keep your vaccines up to date. Both Pfizer and Moderna have updated vaccines to focus on the JN.1 variant, which is the first strain of FLiRT variants and due to this fact should protect against XEC.
However, Australia is Still waiting To hear which vaccine could also be available to the general public and when.
In the meantime, omicron-based vaccines comparable to the present XBB.1.5 spikevax (Moderna) or COMIRNATY (Pfizer) are still prone to provide good protection against XEC.
It's hard to predict how the XEC will behave in Australia as summer approaches. We will need more research to know more about any such outbreak as well. But since XEC was first detected in Europe through the Northern Hemisphere summer months, this means that XEC could also be suitable for outbreaks in warmer climates.