What is XEC, the new COVID variant spreading in the West? | Pandemic news about the coronavirus

A new variant of the coronavirus is sweeping through Europe and the United States as officials advise stepping up monitoring of its spread.

The variant – known as

The variant appears to spread more easily than previous forms of COVID, but cases of the infection have not been as severe as those during the pandemic’s peak years.

What’s different about XEC and is there cause for concern?

What is the new COVID XEC variant?

XEC is a ‘recombinant’ version of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that caused the original COVID-19 pandemic.

Recombinants arise when a person is infected with two different types of COVID at the same time. Genetic material from the two different strains then “recombines” or “exchanges” with each other, creating a third, new strain.

Although the symptoms of

Each variant or strain develops mutations characterized by different ‘spike proteins’ on the virus. These proteins bind to human cells, allowing the virus to enter the human body and multiply.

Over time, Omicron has developed its own offshoots or subvariants. Two of these – KP.3.3 and KS.1.1 – are the two that have been recombined to form XEC. They are closely related and evolved from the earlier JN.1 variant, which is also part of the Omicron lineage and was dominant around the world in early 2024.

Recombinant variants are not new. The recombinant variant XBB dominated COVID cases in 2023.

How does XEC spread?

Like other variants of the coronavirus, XEC is primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets that float in the air when an infected person exhales, talks, coughs or sneezes. Although the virus can survive on surfaces, transmission through this route is less common than airborne viruses.

Therefore, public health officials advise people to practice social distancing, wear masks in public spaces and use hand sanitizer.

However, XEC is thought to spread even more easily than previous COVID variants. This is due to its specific spike proteins that allow it to enter cells and multiply more easily. The exact nature of its transmissibility is still being studied.

What are COVID XEC symptoms?

XEC can cause symptoms such as sore throat, fever, fatigue and muscle pain. These are likely to be mild and appear after two to fourteen days of infection. The severity of symptoms varies. Cases may be more severe in high-risk people, such as the elderly, or may be completely asymptomatic.

So far, XEC is not known to cause unique symptoms or more severe consequences than other COVID variants.

When was the new species detected?

XEC was first detected in August by researchers in Berlin, Germany, among COVID-19 samples collected two months earlier.

The June sampling was part of routine COVID-19 surveillance that involves sequencing or analyzing genetic material from nasal swabs of infected people.

It is not clear why there was a two-month delay in detecting the variant, but in many cases this may be due to sequencing lags, especially if the initial focus at the time was on other dominant variants.

Where has it spread so far?

Since then, more than 600 cases have been reported in 27 countries in Europe and North America, according to a tracker maintained by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). The organization is based in Munich and is led by independent scientists from all over the world.

More than a fifth of the cases (21 percent) have been discovered in France, where the disease is most common. However, it is also gaining ground in the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

In the United States, more than 100 cases have been reported in 25 states.

However, the actual global spread of

How dangerous is XEC?

The evidence to date suggests that XEC is not a radically different or more dangerous variant than other Omicron subvariants of COVID.

Unlike several new variants in the past, such as JN.1, the WHO has not yet categorized XEC as a “variant of concern.”

As with other respiratory viruses, COVID-19 and its variants are expected to spread more during the fall and winter seasons in the Northern Hemisphere as people spend more time indoors, closer together and with less ventilation.

Mike Honey, a data visualization and data integration specialist based in Melbourne, said in a post on X that he expects the variant to peak in late October or November, mainly in Europe and North America.

In addition, initial studies show that existing vaccinations are sufficient to provide protection against the XEC variant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has recommended that everyone six months and older should receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus, even if they have been previously vaccinated against COVID.