New Variant Alert: Will XEC Trigger a Dangerous COVID Surge?

New Variant Alert: Will XEC Trigger a Dangerous COVID Surge?
New Variant Alert: Will XEC Trigger a Dangerous COVID Surge? Credit | iStock

United States: Experts in the UK have found a new COVID variant known as XEC, and it is alarming as the incoming winter season is likely to surge.

The UK Health Security Agency noted a new trend of rising hospitalizations in recent days, with 4.5 per 100,000 people admitted in the week through sixth October, up from 3.7 in the prior week.

More about the news

For the fourth consecutive week, the cases have been on the rise – and combined with the UKHSA identification of some XEC cases, there has been a lot of reporting on the new variant. It arrives as several analysts on the ground have predicted that XEC will become the dominant strain and drive a winter wave – but is it more dangerous than others?

The truth is that even though UKHSA is advising the public to protect themselves from COVID in general, it hasn’t “sounded the alarm” for XEC.

It has, however, admitted that people might be worried about new strains, noting that something around one in every ten analyzed new cases features the XEC lineage.

According to Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, “Current information doesn’t suggest we should be more concerned about this variant, but we are monitoring this closely,” sky.com reported.

More about XEC

XEC is another variant in the Omicron group that is similar to the other variants out there. It was first detected in May this year, says WHO, explaining that it is the recombinant of two other strains – KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, which swap genetic material to form the third strain, XEC.

In its latest COVID update on 9 October, WHO said XEC was among only two variants revealing an “increasing prevalence globally” globally between 19 August and 15 September, even though it contributed to a mere percentage of the total cases and KP.3.3 accounted for almost half of the global cases.