A New Omicron sub-variant called XE is spreading globally

Health experts are concerned about a new hybrid COVID-19 variant called XE. XE was first detected in the UK in mid-January 2022.

Table of content: 1 A New Omicron sub-variant called XE is spreading globally. 2 Omicron XE variant symptoms. 3 How transmissible is the Omicron XE variant? 4 Omicron XE variant severity. 5 Why viruses recombine and what led to the birth of the XE variant.

1 A New Omicron sub-variant called XE is spreading globally

COVID-19 variant

Health experts are concerned about a new hybrid COVID-19 variant called XE. XE was first detected in the UK in mid-January 2022. XE variant is a combination of highly transmissible BA.1 and BA.2 omicron variants. Its spike protein derives from BA.2, Globally, around 700 viral genomes have been assigned XE so far. The variant has mainly been detected in the UK, Japan, Thailand, the US, and India. 

Experts believe that this spread pattern is related to travel, XE is up to 10% more transmissible than BA.2. It is the most transmissible subvariant of omicron identified to date, any time a new more transmissible variant emerges. XE variant has the chance of becoming the dominant variant over time but experts believe XE will slowly fade away even as it spreads more easily. The World Health Organization did not declare XE as a variant of concern yet. 

XE contains elements from the same Omicron family. Therefore, currently available vaccines should provide some level of protection against infection. Omicron replaced Delta as the globally dominant strain of the virus in late 2021. Delta was extremely more fatal, omicron appeared to have a less fatal outcome while spreading significantly faster than Delta.

Hybrid viruses will become more frequent as COVID-19 evolves. Usually, every individual virus is a near-exact copy of its single parent virus but viruses also undergo a process called recombination. In other words, viruses can have two parents. Recombinant viruses can emerge when two or more variants infect the same cell in an individual. This allows the variants to interact during replication leading to a mix-up of their genetic material. Ultimately, this process leads to the formation of new virus combinations.

2 Omicron XE variant symptoms.

"To date, symptoms reported in XE variant remain Omicron's such as fatigue, fever, headache, body aches, and heart palpitations," said Dr. Charu Dutt Arora, a specialist and infectious disease specialist, Head, Ameri. Health, Asian Hospital, Faridabad. "There is no evidence so far that XE symptoms are different from those already existing," said Dr. Rao.

3 How transmissible is the Omicron XE variant?

According to the WHO, it may be the most transferable variant at the moment and it is estimated that it is 10% more easily distributed than BA.2, which in itself was more transmissible than the original Omicron. On Saturday, India indulged in 1,150 new COVID cases, the Union Health Ministry reported.

4 Omicron XE variant severity

"XE's serious illness seems mild - we have to be careful before we say this because we also have to consider that more people are now vaccinated more often than in previous waves," he said. Dr. Venkatagopalan.

5 Why viruses recombine and what led to the birth of the XE variant. 

"Coronaviruses carry RNA as their genetic material. This naturally makes them more flexible and allows them to adapt to new strains and varieties more easily. In contrast, humans and all other forms of life are endowed with DNA as their genetic material, which is more stable compared to RNA carrying life forms.  Pavithra Venkatagopalan is a Director, Covid Task Force, Awareness, Rotary Club of Madras Next Gen.

"Coronavirus recombination is an expected event. However, we cannot predict what type of mutation will occur or what it will mean in terms of transmission or severity of infections," adds Dr. Venkatagopalan.