India’s first case of Coronavirus Variant XE comes to light. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on April 6, Wednesday has said that a woman aged 50 years old with a travel history to South Africa has been detected with a newly discovered XE Coronavirus Variant. Well, the health condition of the infected patient is normal with the new strains of the Virus.
The World Health Organization states that the latest mutant may be more transmissible compared to previous ones.
Officials from the union health ministry expressed their disagreement on the note, saying – the present evidence doesn’t reflect it to be a XE Variant. Confirmation of this will get unveiled in a day or two.
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What is the XE Coronavirus Variant?
Over 90% of the infection diagnosed this year, of the Omicron variant which has two prominent sub-variants – BA.1 and BA.2. BA. 3 variant is also there but in fewer cases.
The BA.1 sub-variant was the most rampant in the beginning. But, BA.2 was reported to be the most presiding in India, during the third wave.
Despite being more transmissible than BA. 1, BA. 2 was not more that severe. According to the World Health Organization, the BA.2 strain has become the most rampant over the last few months, accounting for over 94 percent of all Omicron infections in the last month (WHO) and the decline of the BA. 1 variant has been claimed.
The XE variation is referred to as a recombinant’. This shows it has the mutations found in both BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variants. This was originally identified in January in the United Kingdom, and more than 600 samples of XE have been identified in other countries.
So, does XE pose a threat?
No evidence reveals that the XE variant is different from other variants of Omicron.
What now has been noticed is that XE could be more contagious than the dominant BA. 2 variant. This is a bit of an advantage that even has not been affirmed yet.
The lack of a notable increase in the prevalence of the XE variant since its identification three months ago suggests that it may not be a major concern at this time.
Additional BMC Commission Suresh Kakani Said – “The patient had foreign travel history and we put the patient’s sample for genome sequencing along with 230 samples. Of the 230, 228 had Omicron BA2 variant and one had Kapa and one was detected with XE”
He further added “As per the guidelines of the World Health Organization, the BA 2 and XE is at par so far the spreadability is concerned. As of now there is nothing to worry about,”
