As flu season approaches, there is an emergence of new COVID-19 variants, particularly a strain named XEC. This variant is spreading swiftly across several countries, including the United States.
According to Scripps Research’s Outbreak.info, updated on September 5, there have been 95 reported cases of the XEC variant across 12 U.S. states and 15 other nations. However, Mike Honey, an Australian data integration specialist, noted on social media that this strain, initially identified in Berlin last June, has now affected hundreds more individuals in 27 countries spanning Europe, North America, and Asia.
The Omicron variant KP.3.1.1, also referred to as deFLuQE, accounted for over half (52.7%) of COVID-19 cases from September 1 to September 14. Scientists believe that XEC and another variant named MV.1 may soon dominate.
Eric Topol, Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, indicated that XEC seems to be the variant likely to take hold next.
Identified for the first time in late June in Berlin, XEC has increasingly spread throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, with approximately 550 samples documented across 27 countries, including China, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland.
The MV.1 variant was first noted in Maharashtra, India in late June and has been reported in nine countries, including the United States. Its presence has been confirmed across four continents in nations such as Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, with the U.S. seeing the majority of cases in the northeast.
As of the latest update on September 5, at least 95 sequences from the XEC lineage have been identified between June 28 and August 20, with 25 cases occurring in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not yet specified any unique symptoms associated with the XEC variant. However, they continue to list common COVID-19 symptoms, which may manifest between 2 to 14 days after virus exposure and range from mild to severe. The symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, nausea, and diarrhea.
People are advised to seek medical attention if they experience difficulty breathing, persistent pain in the chest, new confusion, trouble waking up, or if their skin, lips, or nail beds appear pale, gray, or blue.
To protect against the XEC variant and others, the CDC recommends that everyone aged six months and older receive the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of their prior vaccination or infection status.