The Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, is causing concern among scientists after its rapid spread in the United States in December. Here is what we know so far. | Reuters
“Our concern is how transmissible it is,” Van Kerkhove said in a news briefing on Wednesday.
XBB.1.5 is yet another descendant of Omicron, the most contagious variant of the virus causing COVID-19 that is now globally dominant. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself a recombinant of two other Omicron sub-variants.The WHO said it does not have any data on severity yet, or a clinical picture on its impact. It said that it saw no indication that its severity had changed but that increased transmissibility is always a concern.
She said the WHO was unable to currently attribute the increase in hospitalizations in the northeastern United States to the variant, given that many other respiratory viruses were also in circulation.Virologists agree that the emergence of the new subvariant does not mean there is a new crisis in the pandemic. New variants are to be expected as the virus continues to spread.
“There is no reason to think that XBB.1.5 is of any more concern than other variants that come and go in the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19 mutants,” said Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group.The WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution is doing a risk assessment on the subvariant. Van Kerkhove said on Wednesday it hoped to publish that in the next few days.
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