XE is a “recombinant” mutation of the BA’1 and BA.2 Omicron strains.
new Delhi:
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a media release that the first case of corona virus variant XE was reported in India today in Mumbai. One case of the kappa variant has also been detected. Patients with the new variant of the virus do not have any severe symptoms so far.
The World Health Organization said last week that the new mutant could be more transmitted than any strain of Covid-19.
However, official sources in the Union Home Ministry disagreed saying that the current evidence does not suggest that it is the XE variant.
An official said, “The FASTQ files with respect to the sample, which is being called the XE variant, have been analyzed in detail by the genomic experts of INSACOG, who have inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant is from the genomic picture of the XE variant. Is not related.” ,
Additional BMC commissioner Suresh Kakani told NDTV, “The patient had a history of foreign travel and we put the patient sample for genome sequencing with 230 samples. Out of 230, 228 had the Omicron BA2 variant and one had Kappa and one I was detected with XE.”
“As per World Health Organisation’s guidelines, BA2 and XE are equivalent as far as proliferation potential is concerned. There is nothing to worry about right now,” he said.
The World Health Organization said last week that the new mutant may be more transmitted than any strain of COVID-19.
The patient from Mumbai is a 50-year-old costume designer who returned from South Africa in February. The BMC, in its release, said that he tested positive for Covid on March 2.
The new strain was detected in the UK at the start of the new year. Britain’s health agency said on 3 April that XE was first detected on 19 January and that 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in the country so far.
XE is a “recombinant” mutation of the BA’1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. When a patient is infected with multiple types of covid, recombinant mutations emerge. In a paper published in the British Medical Journal, UK experts said that the variants combine their genetic material during replication and create a new mutation.
The World Health Organization said that New Mutation XE Appears to be 10 percent more permeable than Omicron’s BA.2 sub-version.
“Early day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 percent compared to BA.2, however, this finding needs further confirmation,” the global health body said.
Of the 230 Mumbai patients whose samples were sent for genome sequencing, 228 are positive for omicron, one kappa and one XE. Of the total 230 patients, 21 had to be hospitalized, although none of them required oxygen or intensive care. Of those hospitalized, 12 had not been vaccinated and nine had received both doses.