The Omicron sub-lineage XBB of COVID-19 has made its way to the Indian public after appearing in Singapore. An expert panel has noted that Indian patients have reported moderate illness and no increase in severity despite the fact that the disease is known for being extremely contagious.
The findings were made by INSACOG, or the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics, a network of 54 laboratories spread out across the nation that keeps track of the virus’s various iterations.
‘Modest increase in the spread of XBB in Singapore has been observed. However, there has been no report of increase in severity of disease or increase in hospitalization associated with these variants,’ read the report.
‘Among the Indian patients, the disease is mild like with other Omicron sub-lineages, and no increase in severity is noted,’ it added.
Despite the low severity, the body reported that it was detected in about 50% of the samples sequenced in the last two weeks.
The XBB variation, which was initially discovered in Singapore is predicted to overtake other Covid strains in the near future. Health professionals are optimistic that the population’s degree of hybrid immunity will prevent serious infections from developing.
Over 60% of the new cases in Singapore up to mid-October were related to the XBB strain.
According to experts, a study revealed that XBB can circumvent vaccine-derived defences. Vaccination, however, can prevent serious symptoms from occurring. In fact, additional variations are expected to appear as the weather becomes colder.
Post Your Comments