What Is The XE Variant Of Coronavirus And Should You Be Worried?

After a brief reprieve from Covid-19 cases, particularly in India, new sub-types of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged in the United Kingdom and China.

The sub-type that was reported from UK has been named as the XE variant.

Reports of India's first XE case in Mumbai came on Wednesday. However, the health ministry said the genomic sequencing of the case did not match with the actual genomic picture of the XE sub-type.

Here's what we know about the new variant and the risk it poses

The WHO has said the XE sub-type is a recombinant variant and has characteristics of the BA.1 and BA.2 sub-types of Omicron. A recombinant variant is the virus evolving and mutating with its own sub-type.

The WHO has asked countries to not lower their guards and continue being vigilant about SARS-CoV-2 as cases across the world continue to increase.

People infected with Omicron variant have shown mild symptoms only. XE being a sub-type, there is no evidence of it being very different from other varieties. However, it is 10% more transmissible than the dominant BA.2 variant.

“XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported,” the WHO has said.