The world has been suffering from COVID-19 since 2020. As the situation was getting better and everything had almost gone back to normal, a new sub-variant of COVID-19 has been found in New York, USA. This new sub-variant is called XBB.1.5 and is a new omicron strain.
This new variant is rapidly spreading all across the world. So far active cases of this XBB.1.5 variant have been found dominantly in Singapore, China, India, and the USA. As per the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control website, the transmission of this XBB variant in Europe has been detected and its impact on immunity is also increased.
As per NBC’s report, around 40% of active COVID-19 cases in the USA are of Omicron XBB.1.5 strain. In the northeastern USA, the total percentage of COVID-19 patients caused by this new strain is as high as 75%. After China rapidly eased the COVID restrictions, China is also at risk of new emerging COVID variants. 1st case of the XBB variant was found in Gujrat, India as well.
Compared to BQ and XBB variants, this XBB variant is more immune evasive and contagious. XBB1.5 performed 108% better than BQ1. And now, XBB1.5 became 120% faster as more data became available. In comparison to Omicron BF, XBB spreads more rapidly. In addition, now XBB.1.5 is the most found COVID alteration.
According to experts like Rick Bright who is an Immunologist and advanced researcher in the field of biomedical sciences, getting an updated booster dose will help our immune system in fighting this new Omicron sub-variant. Another expert Anthony Fauci who is an infectious disease specialist says that even though the original booster vaccine is not ideal, it still can provide protection against this XBB.1.5 variant.
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