The highly contagious subvariant Omicron XBB.1.5, which is spreading rapidly in Covid-19 cases in the United States, is expected to become dominant in Europe within a month or two, the European agency responsible for epidemics.
This subvariant, which was detected for the first time in the United States in October and is the most contagious vector of the new coronavirus to date, poses a “low risk for the entire population”, according to the latest assessment published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
However, this risk is “moderate to high” for “vulnerable people, such as the elderly, unvaccinated or immunocompromised,” according to the Stockholm-based European agency.
For ECDC, “there are many gray areas with XBB.1.5 and this assessment could change in the coming weeks.”
No signs of infection different from other sublineages.
While it now accounts for more than 27% of infections in the United States, XBB.1.5 was only responsible for 2.5% of Covid-19 cases in the final weeks of 2022, according to the ECDC.
“ECDC mathematical models indicate that XBB1.5 could become dominant in the European Union (…) within one to two months, due to the low number of cases currently reported “on the continent” and their rate of progress.
According to the European Epidemic Agency, “there is currently no evidence that the severity of infection with XBB.1.5 is different from other Omicron sublines.”
A total of 38 countries have reported cases of XBB.1.5, including 82% in the United States, 8% in the United Kingdom and 2% in Denmark, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
It closely resembles its predecessor XBB.1, but it has an additional mutation in its spike protein, the virus’ famous gateway key, according to virologists.
Source: BFM TV
