In the United States, the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 strains of COVID-19 are responsible for the vast majority of infections.
According to William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, XBB is causing a great deal of controversy because it spreads rapidly and appears to be able to evade the immunity that people have developed from prior infection or vaccination. Dr. Schaffner emphasizes, “It is still early, and we have much to learn.”
What Is The XBB COVID-19 Variant?
Professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, Thomas Russo, M.D., describes XBB as one of the “new class” of Omicron variants that are currently spreading rapidly. Specifically, he mentions BQ.1.1, BQ.1, BQ.1.3, BA.2.3.20, and XBB.
Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, explains, “XBB is a hybrid of two strains of the BA.2 form of Omicron.” Currently, it is “effectively spreading in Singapore,” he adds.
The variant was first detected in India in August 2022 and has since been detected in more than 17 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Denmark, India, Japan, and the United States, based on data from Singapore’s Ministry of Health.
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XBB identified as the most antibody-evasive COVID-19 variant
In the United States, the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 strains of COVID-19 are responsible for the vast majority of infections.
XBB is believed to have the greatest capacity to circumvent the antibody protections of these newly emerged variants, according to a pre-print study conducted by Chinese researchers.
The researchers found that the new Omicron strains, and XBB in particular, were “the most antibody-evasive strains tested, exceeding BA.5 and approaching SARS-CoV-1 levels.”
SARS-CoV-1, in case you were unaware, is the coronavirus strain that causes SARS, a severe respiratory virus that can cause death.
The vaccine and prior infection are believed to provide less protection against XBB than they did against previous strains. An unpublished study suggests that antibody drugs such as Evusheld and bebtelovimab may also be ineffective against XBB.
Dr. Russo says these variants are constantly adapting to stay under the radar. It is “likely to be protective against severe disease” with XBB, says Dr. Russo, but the bivalent booster will be “imperfect at preventing infection.”
However, there is no need for alarm. When it comes to vaccine refusal, “it is essential to recognize that vaccine protection is not all-or-nothing,” says Dr. Adalja. Vaccine protection against the most severe forms of the disease remains uncompromised, even in the face of immune-evasive variants.
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