Covid 4th wave: What is Omicron XE mutant strain of Covid-19 and how dangerous can it be

India had just begun reopening after the third wave when the news of the new mutant strain XE being detected in the UK emerged. At the same time, pandemic experts and scientists are predicted another wave of Covid-19 in the near future, expecting it to hit the world in a month or so. Several countries of the world, from UK and Italy to China, are seeing spike in Covid-19 cases. In India, the situation has been under control since the third wave subsided, but the detection of the first case of XE in the country in Mumbai today has further fuelled the fourth wave concerns.

READ | First case of new Omicron sub-variant XE detected in India

After the Omicron and the Delta variant, which were responsible for the last two waves of the pandemic, experts have said that we need to be prepared for another variant of coronavirus, which has been dubbed the XE strain. As per new data emerging from the UK on Tuesday, the XE sub-variant may be up to 10 percent more transmissible compared to the Omicron variant. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently released a warning about the 2nd Covid mutant strain XE, which is a hybrid strain of two Omicron subvariants. Early studies claim that the XE strain has a growth rate advantage of 10 percent as compared to the BA.2 variant.

Researchers have recently discovered three hybrid strains of the virus which are XD, XE, and XF strains. While the XD and XF variant is a combination of Delta and BA.1, the XE variant is a hybrid strain of two Omicron subvariants.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) conducted a study on the three new strains of Covid-19, where it was discovered that the XD strain is a hybrid of French Delta and BA.1 lineage, the XF variant is a hybrid of UK Delta and BA.1 lineage and the XE variant is a mix of a large UK BA.1 and BA.2 lineage.

While issuing an alert about the XE strain, WHO had said, “The XE recombinant was first detected in the United Kingdom on 19 January and >600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since," reads the WHO document. “Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of ~10% as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation.”