(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) The World Health Organization and UK Health Security Agency warned in COVID-19 reports that a new variant, called XE, could be more transmissible than the Omicron variant, PennLive reported.
Researchers call the new disease a “recombinant strain” because it combines two Omicron variants, BA.1 and BA.2.
The WHO reported that the XE strain may be as much as 10 percent more transmissible than the second Omicron strain, which caused positive COVID-19 tests to spike to their highest levels even as severe illness sharply declined.
“Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of ~10% as compared to BA.2, however this finding requires further confirmation,” WHO officials wrote in a weekly epidemiological update.
The first XE cases popped up in the United Kingdom in January, though medical facilities have detected only 600 cases since then, reported the Gateway Pundit.
By comparison, the second Omicron variant has caused more than half of all positive COVID-19 diagnoses in the United States.
“To be clear, XE only accounts for a tiny fraction of cases worldwide,” UK HSA wrote. “That may change, given that XE is thought to be about 10% more transmissible than the already more-transmissible BA.2. That means it may be roughly 43% more transmissible than the original Omicron that savaged the globe last winter.”
Right now, the WHO still classifies XE as a sub-variant within the Omicron strain
“XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported,” WHO officials wrote.
“WHO continues to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants, alongside other SARS-CoV-2 variants, and will provide updates as further evidence becomes available.”
UK Health Security Agency also identified two other variants, XD and XF.
These variants combine an early Omicron variant with the Delta variant, leading researchers to call them “Deltacron” strains. They have emerged in Europe but have not caused widespread illness.
