BackXBB sub-variants accounted for 75% of covid cases: Insacog
Currently, there are three variants of interest globally which include—XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 & EG.5, and six other variants are under monitoring.
PremiumNew Delhi The latest bulletin issued by Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) states that there was around 25% prevalence of recombinant variant XBB.1.16 in different parts of India till August.
However, XBB sub-lineages accounted for 75% of the current infection with no severity seen in cases. Besides, the public health risk of newly detected variant EG.5 was low worldwide with no disease severity reported so far. Right now, India is reporting an all-time low number of cases.
“Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variants in India. The prevalence of recombinant variant XBB.1.16 has been observed in different parts of India, accounting for nearly 25.0% of the infection last week. Among the samples collected till the second week of August 2023, other XBB sub-lineages accounted for 75% of the current infection. However, no increase in disease severity or hospitalization has been observed," the bulletin stated.
Currently, there are three variants of interest (VOI) globally which includes--XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 & EG.5, and six other variants are under monitoring.
Highlighting the global scenario, Insacog bulletin said: “EG.5 has shown rising prevalence globally from 7.5% in last few weeks from a total of 48 countries. XBB.1.5 has declined in prevalence, being replaced by XBB.1.16 as the dominant variant globally. XBB.1.5 has been detected in 121 countries and accounted for 13.2% and 12.7% of cases. XBB.1.16 has been reported from 101 countries and XBB.1.16 has been reported from 101 countries. Based on the available evidence, the public health risk of EG.5 was assessed to be low worldwide and no changes in disease severity have been reported so far."
Insacog is a consortium of 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in covid-19 virus. Till now, around 332,427 covid-19 positive samples have been sequenced, collected from sentinel sites and international passengers arriving in India to track the emergence of any new virus, its transmission rate and severity.
Since the onset of the pandemic, India has recorded 4.49 crore covid-19 cases. In the last 24 hours, around 47 new cases have been reported while the active cases remain 466. The death toll stands at 5,32,031 till date as per the union health ministry data.
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