Australia detects first case of highly contagious coronavirus infection called XEC

A highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Australia, raising questions about whether it will lead to a surge in coronavirus cases over the summer.

According to global health data platform GISAID, the XEC strain has been reported in 29 countries including the US, UK and China.

Here's what we know about the XEC variant and the number of cases reported in Australia.

What do we know about XEC?

XEC is a “recombinant” COVID-19 variant, meaning it is a mixture of two previous Omicron variants called KS 1.1 and KP 3.3.

Recombinant variants are created when someone is infected with two strains of a virus and then reproduces to give rise to another strain.

There are conflicting reports about where this strain originated, but most reports suggest it was first detected in Germany in May or June.

According to GISAID, cases have been reported in 29 countries including Brazil, Canada, China, France, Spain and Japan.

In September, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified XEC as a variant under surveillance, allowing health authorities to focus more on it and investigate whether it poses a further threat to global public health.

University of Queensland infectious disease doctor Paul Griffin told the ABC that XEC could become the dominant variant by the end of October.

“It seems to be growing pretty quickly,” Dr. Griffin said.

How many cases of XEC are there in Australia?

Australia recorded 23 known XEC COVID-19 infections as of 23 September. Department of Health’s latest Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report.

Dr Griffin said the XEC strain accounted for around 5-10% of Australia's coronavirus cases, and the strain may have arrived in the country sooner than the data indicated.

National Notifiable Disease Surveillance Dashboard Report 12,037,101 new coronavirus infections detected As of 7 October 2024, since the start of the pandemic in Australia.

But Dr. Griffin said the number of infections is not a good indicator of the severity or susceptibility of the XEC variant because fewer people are being tested.

“The main things we monitor are: [for] …It’s things like cases and outbreaks, hospitalizations, intensive care and deaths in elderly care,” he says.

“So far, we have not seen any increase in these values.”

What are the symptoms and how is it transmitted?

Like other COVID-19 variants, XEC is transmitted from person to person through droplets and airborne particles when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

Symptoms of the XEC variant are the same as most other strains of COVID-19, including fever, cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath.

According to the Ministry of Health, some people may not experience symptoms, but it can be serious for older people, people with underlying health conditions and pregnant women.

“Different people can have very different symptoms. This can cause very diverse illnesses in very many different people, depending on past exposures, levels of immunity, and other symptoms.” It's one of the things.

The Ministry of Health says wearing a face mask, practicing good hygiene and physical distancing can help prevent contracting the virus. Vaccinations also protect against serious diseases.

How is XEC different from other COVID-19 variants?

Dr. Griffin said the combination of the KS 1.1 and KP 3.3 variants resulted in changes to the virus's spike protein, which made the disease more transmissible.

But he says it's too early to know much about XEC's characteristics because scientists are still sequencing the virus.

“Right now, this is a combination of two very important subvariants. That's why we think there are changes in the spike protein that provide a growth advantage.”

Dr. Griffin says there will likely be more variants of COVID-19, but people shouldn't become complacent.

“These changes are truly random. Purely by chance, one of these subvariants could become more virulent, cause more severe disease, or acquire other properties, such as evading tests or antiviral drugs. There is a possibility that

“That's why we need a level of vigilance to continue, to continue to monitor, to continue to assess, to continue to respond, and that's why we really can't be complacent.”

He says it's unclear whether this variant will cause a “summer wave” of infections like Omicron.

Will current vaccinations protect me from XEC?

Dr. Griffin said changes in the virus could lead to immune evasion, meaning immunity developed from past infection or vaccination could become slightly less effective against the mutated virus.

he says. Latest JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine under review by The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Because this is a “closely related” subvariant, it provides a sufficient level of coverage against the new strain.

“We still expect these vaccines to be highly effective, but the biggest determinant of how effective they are is how many people get vaccinated.” he says.

“The JN.1 booster, which we hope will be available soon, is critical to the protection of our country and we want very high levels of adoption.”