Scientists have sounded the alarm over the Covid omicron XBB.1.5 variant after it became one of the rising variants in the United States, representing about 41% of the new cases in the country, news agency CNBC reported.
The report says the Covid omicron XBB.1.5 variant is highly immune evasive and appears to be more effective when it comes to binding with cells, compared to other sub-variants.
Wow. XBB.1.5 more than doubled across the United States in 1 week, now ~40%, out-competing all variants pic.twitter.com/PeE8P7eAeH
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 30, 2022
The Covid cases caused by the XBB.1.5 doubled over the past week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released on Friday.
The omicron variant was prevalent in 21.7% of the cases last week, compared to the 41% this week.
Researchers and scientists fear that the Covid-19 vaccines and the omicron boosters could be rendered ineffective due to the XBB.1.5 variant.
It also has the ability to cause even more breakthrough infections.
Scientists across the world have been monitoring the XBB subvariant family for months since the strain has many mutations.
13) Thus, if we look at the ability of #XBB15 in binding ACE2 cell receptor… XBB15 is much better (bad) in binding affinity to ACE2 than both old XBB & better than #BQ11. Note— Ba275, while good ACE2 binding, is not that evasive. ➡️XBB15 hence worse on 2 fronts!
HT @yunlong_cao pic.twitter.com/Moz777llit
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 30, 2022
XBB was first identified in August and has evolved into a family of sub-variants which include XBB.1 and XBB.1.5.
An expert speaking to CNBC said XBB.1.5 stands out because it has an additional mutation which increases its ability to bind with cells.
Scientists from the Columbia University in a journal article published earlier this year warned that the rise of sub-variants such as XBB challenges the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines and lead to breakthrough infections and reinfections.
The report by CNBC also outlined citing experts that the XBB sub-variants are also resistant to Evusheld, an antibody cocktail that patients with weak immune systems rely on when they are infected with Covid-19.