The chameleon coronavirus is constantly changing, and as long as it lasts, there are no convincing and scientifically based prognoses. These days, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns of a mutant variant of covid-19 or omicron, called XE, which is ten percent more contagious than subtype BA.2. It is a "recombinant" variant of the virus, which occurs when someone is infected with two or more strains of covid-19 at the same time, ie with sub-variants BA.1 and BA.2. That means the XE could be about 43 percent more contagious than the original omicron that ravaged the world last winter. The point is that the genetic material of these variants is mixed in the patient.

So far, no case of XE variant of omicron has been detected in Macedonia, but given the fact that it is a very easily transmitted form of coronavirus, we should not doubt that it is only a matter of time before that happens.

Subsoils

Namely, for this XE subset of omicron, experts say that it could cause the sixth wave of coronavirus in Europe given the speed of spread. It was first detected in the UK on January 19 and is currently dominant in the country, with about 86 percent of covid-19-positives being infected. The WHO warns that XE is still being studied very thoroughly to determine any differences between the BA.1 and BA.2 variants of omicron, ie it is possible that it is a completely new strain. Until this is determined, it is assumed that all of these subsets are part of the omicron "family". Fortunately, XE does not cause more severe forms of the disease than other omicron subsets. Experts point out that the initial symptoms of the infection are fatigue and dizziness, followed by headache, sore throat and fever. Surprisingly, there is no loss of smell or taste as in the early strains of the coronavirus. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and abdominal pain may also occur.

Necessary measures

"It should be noted that at the moment there are a number of other viruses that have similar symptoms to the XE variant of omicron, such as adenoviruses, influenza A in children, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the like, but that does not mean that people should not to be tested to exclude covid-19. Although the number of infected is relatively low at the moment, it should be noted that more than 30% of those tested are still infected, which is a large number. It is therefore necessary to continue to implement epidemiological measures from wearing masks to distance and personal hygiene. "Certainly, vaccination comes first." Dr. Tabain. He adds that these are basic epidemiological measures that will help the new variant XE to spread less.

In addition to this currently galloping X-ray subsoil XE, the UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) has unveiled two new soybeans, XD and XF. Namely, XD is a hybrid of delta and omicron BA1, and XF is a combination of BA1. The XD variant has been found in France, Denmark and Belgium, and the XF in the UK.

The professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor of UKHSA, says that t. n. recombinant variants of the virus are not uncommon, especially when there are several strains in the circulation, so several have already been identified since the onset of the pandemic. It is difficult to say when new strains and subspecies will appear, but everyone hopes that most of the new varieties will "die" relatively quickly and will not be more dangerous than previously known.