COVID-19 Here's 5 Things You Need To Know About Omicron's XE Sub-Type
- 2 years ago
1. XE was first discovered in the UK on 19th January and has so far been reported in 600 samples.
2. A recombinant variant, it has characteristics of both BA1. 1 and BA1. 2 sub-types of Omicron.
3. More than a variant, it is a sub-type evolved from Omicron.
4. According to the WHO, the sub-type is 10% more transmissible- which means that it spreads 1.1 times faster than the earlier variants.
5. It spreads faster but whether it is more dangerous in terms of infectivity and severity needs to be studied.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation reported that a fifty-year-old costume designer in Mumbai was found to be infected with the relatively new XE sub-type making her the first reported case of the COVID-19 Omicron sub-type in India. Although she tested positive on March 2, it was only discovered that she was infected by the XE variant after the BMC shared its data on COVID-19 genome sequencing.
The BMC and the Maharashtra state government stated that they have been asked to send the sample to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics for further confirmation of the XE sub-type. However, the state press release also shared that GISAID has confirmed the sequencing.
2. A recombinant variant, it has characteristics of both BA1. 1 and BA1. 2 sub-types of Omicron.
3. More than a variant, it is a sub-type evolved from Omicron.
4. According to the WHO, the sub-type is 10% more transmissible- which means that it spreads 1.1 times faster than the earlier variants.
5. It spreads faster but whether it is more dangerous in terms of infectivity and severity needs to be studied.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation reported that a fifty-year-old costume designer in Mumbai was found to be infected with the relatively new XE sub-type making her the first reported case of the COVID-19 Omicron sub-type in India. Although she tested positive on March 2, it was only discovered that she was infected by the XE variant after the BMC shared its data on COVID-19 genome sequencing.
The BMC and the Maharashtra state government stated that they have been asked to send the sample to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics for further confirmation of the XE sub-type. However, the state press release also shared that GISAID has confirmed the sequencing.