Rajni
North News
Chandigarh, September 19
A new COVID-19 variant, XEC, has surfaced, raising concerns about a potential surge in infections across Europe and the United States in the coming months. XEC, an Omicron variant, evolved from the FLiRT (KS.1.1) and FLuQE (KP.3.3) subvariants. According to Scripps Research’s Outbreak.info, XEC carries multiple spike protein mutations, which may enhance its ability to infect cells, potentially making it more contagious than previous variants.
First detected in Berlin, Germany, in June 2024, XEC has since spread to numerous countries, including France, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Canada. As of September 3, the variant had been identified in 15 countries and 12 U.S. states, per Outbreak.info data.
Mike Honey, a data visualization and integration expert, posted on X (formerly Twitter), “XEC first appeared in Berlin in late June. It has since rapidly spread across Europe, North America, and Asia, with around 550 samples now reported from 27 countries across 3 continents.” He highlighted significant growth of the variant in Denmark and Germany (16-17%) and noted its presence in the UK and Netherlands (11-13%).
Scripps Research Translational Institute Director, Eric Topol, also commented, “At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to gain traction next.”
While information about XEC remains limited, early indications suggest its symptoms align with those of other COVID-19 strains, including fever, sore throat, cough, fatigue, and body aches.
Professor Francois Balloux, Director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told BBC News that although XEC has a “slight transmission advantage” over other recent strains, vaccines are still expected to provide robust protection. He added that XEC could potentially become the dominant strain during the winter months.
