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Travelers at the airport in the US city of Denver
Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the new coronavirus variant XBB.1.5.
The variant discovered in October is more easily transferrable than any of the previously known variants, said WHO corona specialist Maria van Kerkhove in Geneva.
According to the available genetic analyzes of the virus, it is spreading primarily in the USA and Europe and has already been detected in 29 countries.
It is a subset of the omicron variant that has been circulating since late 2021.
A risk analysis is in progress and will be published shortly, said van Kerkhove.
The US health agency CDC estimated earlier this year that XBB.1.5 accounted for around 40.5 percent of all new infections in the US in the week before the turn of the year.
"In recent weeks, reports of hospitalizations and pressure on health systems have been mounting, especially in regions of the northern hemisphere, where respiratory diseases such as influenza are also rampant," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
So far there is no evidence that the variant leads to more severe courses.
However, the number of simultaneous infections alone could push healthcare systems to their limits again.
Understanding of testing regulations for travelers from China
With a view to the corona wave in China, the WHO continues to press for more information from the Chinese authorities.
Tedros expressed understanding for countries that have introduced testing regulations for travelers from China.
"We continue to demand faster, regular and reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths from China, as well as more comprehensive real-time sequencing of viruses," Tedros said.
"Because the virus circulation in China is so high and comprehensive data is not provided, it is understandable that some countries are taking measures to protect their own citizens." The requirement for tests are not travel restrictions, said WHO emergency response coordinator Mike Ryan.
He criticized the narrow Chinese definition for the statistics of corona deaths.
Only infected people who die of respiratory problems are counted.
According to the WHO, however, the complications that can lead to death from Covid-19 are much more extensive.
The WHO therefore assumes that the true number of Covid 19 deaths is significantly higher.
"We've been monitoring XBB.1.5 since mid-November, and their frequency has doubled roughly every week," Richard Neher, head of the Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, told the German Press Agency a few days ago.
The variant is characterized by the mutation F486P in the so-called spike protein.
This is the part of the virus that it uses to attach to human cells.
“This mutation may improve binding to the ACE2 receptor on human cells.
Exactly what that means isn't clear, though," said Neher.
He is not aware of any indications that XBB.1.5 leads to more severe disease progressions.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wrote about the US numbers on Twitter: "You have to watch that."
The XBB.1.5 variant is not mentioned in the current Corona weekly report from the Robert Koch Institute.
However, the report was published on December 22nd.
The next report is not expected until next week.
kry/dpa