XBB1.5 variant of coronavirus found in India
New Delhi/IBNS: XBB1.5 strain of coronavirus responsible for the rising infections in the United States, was detected in India for the first time on Friday, media reports said.
It is the sublineage of the Omicron subvariant causing a deluge of Covid-19 cases in China.
According to Yunlong Cao, biochemist at Peking University, XBB.1.5 is not more immune evasive than XBB but it does have a higher level of transmissibility.
XBB.1.5 was aptly first noted by JP Weiland a couple of weeks ago.
"XBB.1.5 appears faster and more sustained than any of the variants since Omicron's first wave[BA.1] last January," scientist JP Weiland said.
Updated Covid booster vaccines, targeting the original variant of the coronavirus as well as BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, would provide limited protection against the XBB subvariant and would not be "optimal", top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci had said in November.
"Anytime a new variant moves to a different geographic area, it does run the risk of sort of spawning a mini-outbreak in that area," Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore told Reuters.
However, Pekosz said XBB subvariant is unlikely to cause the kind of massive surges seen last winter from the original Omicron variant.
IBNS
Senior Staff Reporter at Northeast Herald, covering news from Tripura and Northeast India.
Related Articles
Decade of slowing deforestation offers hope for forests: FAO data
Lush, green and brimming with trees and wildlife, forests are the Earth’s lungs and source of livelihoods for many communities.
Tamil Nadu on high alert as northeast monsoon intensifies, bringing heavy rains; cyclone risk looms over Bay of Bengal
Several districts across Tamil Nadu are on high alert as the northeast monsoon intensifies following its early onset, raising fears of a potential cyclone formation over the Bay of Bengal.
Despite 77.5% drop in stubble burning, Delhi’s air quality hits a five-year post-Diwali low
Despite a 77.5 percent drop in stubble burning. long seen as a primary cause of Delhi’s winter smog, the capital’s air quality collapsed to a five-year post-Diwali low on Tuesday morning, with PM2.5 levels averaging 488 micrograms per cubic metre, nearly 100 times the World Health Organization’s exposure limit.
Pakistani health department begins investigating two deaths as dengue cases spike
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department has launched an investigation into the deaths of two people in Mardan, reportedly caused by dengue fever, as the province’s total number of infections rose to 3,638 with 37 new cases reported on Sunday.
Latest News
Intoxicated Indian illegal immigrant rams truck into traffic, kills 3 in California
Celebrities favour Andrew Cuomo over Zohran Mamdani in New York City Mayoral election
Bengal woman gangraped and robbed after 5 men barged into house in Bengaluru, 3 arrested
Rohit, Iyer, Axar help India score 264-9 in 50 overs against Australia in Adelaide
