While another variant is on the rise in China, should we fear the one that is poised to become the majority across the Atlantic?
We no longer know what to do with all these variants and sub-variants of Covid. But two of them from Omicron are progressing very quickly: the BF.7 in China and the XBB.1.5 in the US.
While the measures to test travelers from China have been put in place, should the variant developing in the United States worry France too?
What is this new variant?
This is another subvariant of Omicron. It must be said that since its peak a few months ago, the Omicron variant has undergone many mutations, giving rise to the different lineages such as BA.1, BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 that have been making waves of infections in France.
These have regrouped and result, among other things, in the majority BQ.1.1 in France at the moment, but also this new XBB.1.5 that is spreading in the United States.
He would get a nickname octopus by some scientists this fantastic creature from medieval Scandinavian legends with many tentacles.
Also, as Le Parisien reports, this new sub-variant is underway on the other side of the Atlantic displace dominant variants (and together with those in France) and it will become the majority.
the XBB.1.5 is a relative of the omicron XBB variant, This is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants, according to a US health official.
A risk that it will become the majority in France?
As inevitable as it is in the process of displacing the subvariants present in France across the Atlantic, there is a risk that it will spread and become the majority in France, as is the case in the United States, US Health authorities reported.
Around 40% of confirmed Covid cases in the United States are caused by strain XBB.1.5, up from 20% a week ago, NBCNews specifies. And in the Northeast, around 75% of confirmed cases would come from this new strain.
Especially since it would already be present in France some cases have already been identified.
But its spread in France will still depend on itcross immunity. So there is a risk that it will become the majority, but that cannot be said yet.
Transfer easier?
After initial studies on this new strain, it seems that XBB.1.5, like XBB, manages to bypass acquired immunity more easily.
And according to Chinese scientist Yunlong Cao, it would happen more easily attach to cells. Which could therefore make it more portable than its predecessors.
However, the S486P mutation greatly enhanced hACE2 binding, as 486S completely destroyed the local hydrophobic interaction while 486P retained it. 3/ pic.twitter.com/wp9AGQFzou
— Yunlong Richard Cao (@yunlong_cao) December 28, 2022
“It is clear that XBB has immune evasion properties,” said Dr. Isaach Bogoch, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
Laboratory tests have shown this XBB is able to evade antibodies from pre-Covid infections or vaccinationsmeaning that exposure to the virus would mean a person was more likely to get sick or get infected again and show symptoms.
A danger?
Although this sort s seemsspread very quickly in the United Statesis, nothing indicates that she leads to heavier forms than other variants, such as Dr. Barbara Mahon, director of the CDC’s coronavirus and other respiratory viruses division, told NBCNews.
In any case, scientists invite people get vaccinated with the latest recombinant vaccine.
That Symptoms appear to be the same than the other variants. Fatigue, fever, and sore throat… “At this time, there is no evidence that XBB.1.5 is more severe,” said Dr. mahon