United States: The newest of these Covid variants is called XEC and is circulating globally as respiratory virus season gets underway – and many health officials are worried about a worrisome trend of lower Covid and flu vaccination rates in recent years.
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The XEC strain of the highly transmissible omicron variant was identified in Germany in late June and has since spread across the European continent.
Though the XEC variant seems to spread easily, the authorities reveal that its effects look like those of the rest of the COVID subvariants in circulation.
What more have the experts stated?
According to Dr. Scott Roberts, assistant professor of infectious diseases at the Yale School of Medicine, “It has been growing quite rapidly (in Europe),” the Chicago Tribune reported.
“But behaviorally, there’s no indication it’s causing changes in symptoms in any way. It looks more transmissible, but a lot of that is due to the fact that it’s slightly more distinct than the current variants,” Roberts added.
Moreover, as per Erin Newcomer, a genomic epidemiologist at Rush University System for Health, XEC is regarded as a recombinant strain, which signifies “it’s a mix of two strains that were already out and about.”
“While the strain is new, none of the features of the strain are new,” she added.
Newcomer said the XEC strain has only recently been identified in the Chicago area and in small quantities, accounting for 3 percent to 5 percent of the circulating virus locally.
The strain is thought to contribute to roughly 11 percent of the virus circulating in the country and rates slightly higher out West, as reported by the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Specialists are encouraging people to take the new 2024-25 COVID booster along with the annual flu vaccine, with respiratory virus season starting this month, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Finalized in late August, the latest vaccine focuses on an omicron subvariant of the virus that prevailed when the vaccine was developed and is closely related to the existing variants, according to the CDC.