This new strain of the Omicron variant, which is attracting the attention of experts, causes symptoms of identical severity to previous strains of Covid. However, it requires vaccine boosters, according to immunologists.
The start of autumn against the backdrop of a new variant of Covid-19. This is XEC, a new strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus detected in June 2024 in Berlin, Germany and closely monitored by the scientific community in recent weeks, to the point of prompting immunologists to call for an increase in testing and a vaccine booster. Where does this new variant come from? What is the situation in France and what do the authorities recommend?
Where did it appear?
Earlier this summer, Germany reported a new strain of Covid-19. There followed a rapid spread throughout Europe affecting Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France. The United States also detected the variant and on August 30 the Los Angeles Times speak “of a threat” for the coming winter. The variant was thus present in more than 500 samples analyzed at the end of the summer, coming from 27 countries, including Poland, Norway and China, noted specialist Mike Honey, a data scientist specializing in the virus.
XEC first appeared in Berlin in late June. It has since spread quite rapidly across Europe, North America and Asia. Around 550 samples have now been reported, from 27 countries on 3 continents.
Poland, Norway, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Portugal and China have now reported samples.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/EgLXs4RZTv— Mike Honey (@Mike_Honey_) September 15, 2024
The variant would present “an advantage in terms of growth, and could prove to be the next virus we face”, added Eric Topol, director of the American biomedical research center Scripps Research Transnational Institute.
Rapid growth certainly, but still a minority variant compared to other strains of the virus circulating at the moment. “The XEC is definitely taking hold. This appears to be the next variant. But it will still take months before it reaches high levels. explained Eric Topol with the Los Angeles Times. Along the same lines, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) explained that it is still too early to assess the progression of XEC in countries that have reported cases.
Symptoms and severity already known
The ECDC considers that the XEC variant has similarities with other strains of the virus and with an identical level of severity. The symptoms are no different from those already known for Covid: cough, fever, sore throat and possible loss of taste and smell. Concerning the vaccine, nothing new to be expected at the moment according to the experts. Since XEC comes directly from the Omicron variant – which has been circulating around the world for three years – current vaccines should be equally effective in combating the aggravating effects of this new strain.
In France, the return of barrier gestures?
In France, the Covid-19 vaccine booster campaign (like that of the flu) is due to begin on October 15 announced the Directorate General of Health. In the meantime, Public Health France recommends the return of barrier gestures after the announcement of an increase in Covid cases which “seems to be starting” on the territory. The prevention institution made its findings for the week of September 16 to 22, in its weekly bulletin, “all indicators for all ages were increasing in town and in hospital”. An increase particularly observed among those over 65 who have a hospitalization rate of 2.9% after a visit to the emergency room caused by Covid or a suspicion, compared to 1.7% a week earlier.