The Next Wave: Near Omicron Sub-Variant Is "Spreading Like Wildfire" According To "Experts"

This new subvariant is causing concern in the United States, where it is reportedly spreading rapidly, according to the BBC. Fox reports that the variant is “spreading like wildfire.”.

XBB.1.5 is another variant of Omicron, which, according to the BBC, gave rise to many more contagious subvariants. XBB started circulating in the UK in September 2022. By the end of December, the United States began feeling the impact.

Symptoms are similar to other Omicron strains and are cold-like. XBB.1.5 tends to affect the upper respiratory tract, the nose, and the sinuses, rather than different, more deadly variants that attack the lower respiratory tract and the lungs and put many on ventilators.

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Studies by The Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge indicate that XBB.1.5 most likely emerged when someone got infected with two different Omicron types.

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The World Health Organization, WHO, said there is no indication that the new variant is more severe or harmful than previous Omicron variants.

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According to a BBC report and the CDC, XBB.1.5 is the dominant strain in the United States, with more than 40 percent of recent COVID cases thought to be caused by XBB.1.5.

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Drs. Marc Siegel and Shad Marvasti discussed the concern of the new subvariant in an interview with Fox News. The doctors told Fox that the subvariant is immuno-evasive, meaning that it is not as susceptible to natural immunity or vaccines and is very contagious.

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Dr. Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, explained that XBB.1.5 is more virulent. He said, “The spike proteins are like suction cups” and grip tightly onto a host.

Dr. Marvasti of the University of Arizona, College of Medicine-Phoenix, told Fox, “each new strain develops to overshadow those that went before it.” He added, “in some cases, there’s a ‘trade-off’ between mutations, in which some may become more transmissible but less virulent in terms of the health impact.” He hopes that the variants start becoming less severe.

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According to the CDC, the XBB mutation increased the infection rate from 21 percent of all COVID-19 cases on Christmas Eve to 75.3 percent of COVID-19 cases in the northeastern states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the last week of December. These numbers are expected to rise in other states soon. However, it is too soon to tell how the new strain will impact hospitalization and death rates.