XEC, the new COVID-19 variant: Is it fatal? Will vaccines work? Here's what doctors want you to know
COVID-19 cases have dropped slightly in the United States following a major summer wave, but experts predict another increase as temperatures fall and people return indoors. A new COVID-19 variety, known as the XEC COVID variant, is now spreading in Europe, with cases also reported in the United States.
Eric Topol, M.D., founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, recently wrote about X that the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet publicly profiled XEC, but the Scripps COVID-19 epidemiology tracker Outbreak.info has sequencing data on the variant, which is already gaining interest due to its apparent contagiousness.
Which variation is XEC?
The COVID-19 XEC variant is a novel variation that has been monitored globally. Specializing in infectious diseases, William Schaffner, M.D., a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, states that it appears to be quite contagious and is one of the Omicron varieties.
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Information indicates that XEC is a combination of Omicron subvariants KP.3.3 and KS.1.1. The spike protein, which is used by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to cling to your cells and infect you, is mutated multiple times in XEC. It might therefore be more contagious than other recent strains.
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