Concerns have been raised about a new hybrid COVID-19 variant.
In the UK, the highly transmissible BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variant was first detected in mid-January. It is good news for New Zealand since it is the dominant variant of BA.2 and people who have been exposed should have some protection against XE.
Around 700 viral genomes have been assigned XE so far. The variant has mostly been found in the UK and is most likely due to travel-related spread.
According to current estimates from the UK, the most transmissible subvariant of Omicron is XE, which has a slight transmission advantage over BA.2. A new more transmissible variant can become the dominant variant over time.
The Greek letter has not been assigned to XE yet. It belongs to Omicron until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics are identified.
There is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about the transmissibility or ability to evade immunity of XE.
Every single virus is a copy of the same thing. Viruses can have two parents.
When two or more versions of the same cell areinfecting one another, they can interact during replication. A mix-up of their genetic material can lead to new virus combinations.
A process called reassortment can be used to mix up whole segments of a viruses' genomes. Rates vary depending on the type of virus and the chance of co-infection.
More than two years into the epidemic, the likelihood of the recombination is higher and it is easier to detect than during earlier stages. The global Omicron wave has seen a rapid increase in COVID prevalence, which increases the chances of co-infection and gives the virus more chances to recombine.
We are able to detect more recombination than before. There was little genetic diversity in the SARS-CoV-2 virus because the two parent viruses were close to each other.
There are several different variant of the same disease in the same area, making it easier to spot the different variant of the same disease in the millions of genomes generated to date. The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 will likely be influenced by viral recombination.
There have been several SARS-CoV-2 variants identified recently, named XA, XB, XC etc. Some of the variants were done early. Some have only been seen a few times, while others have hundreds of genomes assigned to them.
There are two main types of recombinants, Deltacron and Omicron subvariants.
Some of the recombinants are being watched. They have genetic material from Delta and the BA.1 Omicron subvariant.
There is a mixture of the genes from Delta and BA.1 that was first detected in France. It was concerned that it would inherit the ability to evade our immune defences and the high virulence of Delta. It doesn't seem to be spreading widely or rapidly.
There is no evidence to suggest that recombinant viruses are more of a public health threat than any other variant. We can understand if a vaccine causes changes to the virus' transmissibility, disease severity or ability to escape immunity if we closely monitor them.
There is no need to be overly concerned at this point. We need to continue to watch for new versions of the disease and understand the risks they pose.
The best way to limit the rate of new recombinants is to limit the spread of the virus. We can still use protective measures to slow and suppress the virus despite widespread acceptance that it will be with us for the foreseeable future.
Regular testing, wearing good quality masks, and improved ventilation are included. The measures reduce the chances of getting co-infected and becoming a host.
The Senior Lecturer and Associate Scientist at the University of Otago is one of the people mentioned.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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