Xbb.1.5 is one of the most immunity-evasive variants to date and appears to spread much faster than old XBB or BQ, virologist Dr Eric Feigl Ding tweeted.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that over 40% of Covid-19 cases in the United States are now caused by Omicron XBB.1.5 — a variant which has concerned experts. “Ironically, probably the worst variant that the world is facing right now is actually XBB,” Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told Reuters
Why is XBB.1.5 highly infectious?
Yunlong Richard Cao, a scientist and assistant professor at Peking University, published data on Twitter Tuesday that indicated XBB.1.5 not only evades protective antibodies as effectively as the XBB.1 variant, which was highly immune evasive, but also is better at binding to cells through a key receptor.
Here is all you need to know about XBB.1.5
- XBB.1.5 is a new recombinant strain and is both more immune-evasive and better at infecting than BQ.1 and XBB, the virologist said adding that it is not ‘typical Omircon’, but a special recombination mixture variant that is further mutated.
- The R-value of XBB.1.5 is much worse than the previous variants. “Multiple models show XBB.1.5 is much worse in transmission R-value and infection rate than previous variants — faster by LEAPS and BOUNDS,” Eric Fiegl Ding tweeted
- According to data, XBB.1.5 is 120% faster than BQ.1
- All US states where XBB.1.5 is dominant are witnessing a surge in hospitalisation leading to the explanation that this variant is behind the increased rate of hospitalisation.
- In the UK too, XBB.1.5 is spreading fast.
