United States: Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are deep in the cold and flu season, and with it comes a new COVID-19 variant.
The CDC Data Tracker reveals that there is an increase in reported cases of the XEC variant.
More about the news
Although the KP 3.1.1 mutation is still the most common in both American and worldwide cases, the cases of XEC are increasing gradually.
XEC accounted for 11 percent of the reported cases for the two weeks ending that is up to October 12, 2024 – from 5 percent of the two weeks before that.
The XEC variant was first identified in Germany over the summer, so it still relatively fresh. At the time of reporting, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) established that there is not enough evidence to consider it more transmissible or cause more severe disease than other variants.
However, several physicians who wrote for The Conversation have noted the increase in cases as an indication of the virus’s increased transmissibility compared to other variants, and that it may, possibly, oust KP 3.1.1 to become the dominant strain, iflscience.com reported.
What more have the experts reported?
According to Francois Balloux, Director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, BBC–XEC has a “slight transmission advantage” as some other variants are presently circulating.
What do we know about XEC?
As WHO stated, XEC is an offshoot of Omnicron, and it has been precipitated by a recombination between KS.1.1 and KP 3.3; it is believed that a recombination can occur if one is infected by more than one strain.
Signs show that it still looks similar to the previous COVID-19 version. As per the health agency, these are fever or chills, cough, breathlessness, sore-throat, runny nose, unable to identify taste or smell.
Moreover, it also includes fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, nausea or vomiting, and lastly, diarrhea, iflscience.com reported.
It would be important to note that it is not odd to see that there is a new variant of COVID-19.
According to the CDC, the virus has been continuously mutating. It shows that new strains will emerge, and others will fade away.