XE COVID Variant: The XE recombinant virus has a growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to the BA.2 sub-variant which was until now the most contagious known strain of Covid-19.
New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Even as the world is starting to return to pre-Covid times, the WHO, earlier last week, had warned about a new variant of COVID-19, which the global health body said, could be the most transmissible COVID-19 variant that emerged so far. The variant is named XE and the WHO has notified it as a recombinant virus.
The WHO said that the XE is a hybrid strain of two Omicron sub-variants — BA.1 and BA.2. The XE recombinant virus, however, accounts for a small fraction of cases at present but has a growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to the BA.2 sub-variant which was until now the most contagious known strain of Covid-19. The XE variant was first detected in the United Kingdom, the WHO report said.
What are recombinant viruses?
Recombinant variants can be made when multiple strains infect a person at the same time. The different mutations interact during replication and mix up their genetic material forming a new combination.
Source by: jagran