XE Covid Variant

XE Covid Variant

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context: India has a confirmed case of the XE variant of Covid, according to the Indian SARSCoV2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG) bulletin. The Union Health Ministry is yet to confirm the same or issue a statement on the findings.

Concept:

• In the weekly bulletin for April 25, INSACOG said Omicron (BA2) is the dominant variant in the country.
• 2.10 and BA.2.12 are BA.2 sub-lineages that have been detected, and many old BA.2 sequences have been reclassified into these new sub-lineages. So far, these sub-lineages are not reported to be associated with increased severity of disease.
• Meanwhile, a multi-institutional study has again confirmed the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, highlighting the need for masks to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

XE Covid Variant:

• The XE variant of coronavirus is a sub-variant of Omicron, which caused the third wave of Covid-19 in India in January 2022.
• It is a “recombinant virus” that cross between two strains of the Omicron variant, namely BA.1, which is the original strain, and BA.2, which is the more infectious strain.
• This was first discovered in the United Kingdom in January 2022, and so far, more than 600 samples of XE have been found in different countries.

To know about Variants, refer: https://optimizeias.com/variants-of-corona-virus/ and https://optimizeias.com/variant-of-concern/