19 Sept. 2024 – A recent COVID-19 A variant called XEC is on the rise and experts who track the variants have it up their sleeve.
Every time a recent variant makes a giant appearance on the tracker lists, health authorities take notice since it could mean there may be a crucial behavioral change in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.
Countries reporting increasing XEC detections include Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, says Australian data scientist Mike Honey published on platform X last week.
According to CBS News, XEC's “characteristic mutations” have been detected in not less than 25 states reportedwith labs in New Jersey, California and Virginia each reporting 10 or more cases. The New Jersey discoveries are not less than partly attributable to the CDC's testing program for international travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport.
However, XEC has not gained enough traction in Europe, the US or another a part of the world to be included as a standalone variant on the official watch lists of the CDC, European Unionor World Health Organization.
However, Eric Topol MD, executive vp of Scripps Research and editor-in-chief of Medscape, WebMD's sister site for medical professionals, believes XEC is the following variant “to get legs.”
The speed with which a recent variant emerges doesn’t all the time indicate how severe it would be. Around this time last yr, health officials were raising the alarm about one other omicron variant called BA.2.86, also often called Pirola, which ultimately didn’t make much of a splash.
“CDC is not aware of any specific symptoms associated with XEC or any other co-circulating strain of SARS-CoV-2,” a CDC spokesperson said in an announcement to CBS News.
The variant currently prevalent within the US is known as KP.3.1.1 and is liable for an estimated 53% of COVID cases within the US. Its predecessor lineages are KP.2 and KP.3, and so they all belong to the omicron family. The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates over time, and scientists use the names and designations to discover groups of virus variants based on their similarities and to find out which strains a mutated offspring descended from.
KP.3.1.1 has been the dominant COVID variant since early August, when it topped the list at 19%, just surpassing its predecessor, KP.3. As the country moves into respiratory illness season, when flu and RSV typically also increase, the CDC said in its Outlook for the 2024-2025 respiratory disease season Publication that the authorities don’t expect any unusually severe effects from the three major viruses.
“CDC anticipates that the upcoming fall and winter respiratory seasons will likely see similar or lower numbers of hospitalizations due to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV compared to last season,” the report said.
COVID levels within the U.S. remain high, wastewater evidence shows, down from the CDC's “very high” rating over the summer. About 15% of COVID tests reported to the CDC are positive, and that rate is declining, as are COVID-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations.