The Covid Xe variant, a new mutation of Sars-CoV-2 belonging to the Omicron family, has been on the global public health agenda for several months.
What do we know regarding the Xe variant?
The Xe variant was discovered at the end of January 2022 in England and is a mixture of Omicron variants 1 and 2, two related strains with the same contagiousness and pathogenicity.
According to early studies, the World Health Organization said it may be more transmissible than the previous subvariant 2 (currently responsible for 90% of global infections) by around 10%, but not more aggressive and deadly .
The number of confirmed cases so far is around 640, a small number to be able to make statistical claims, but something that experts have already noticed: the order of frequency of symptoms changes and must be taken into account.
Symptoms of the Xe variant
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has added new symptoms reported by patients with the Xe variant to the list of disorders caused by Covid-19.
As with Omicron variants 1 and 2, the infection manifests as a cold (especially in vaccinated) with rhinorrhea, stuffy nose, sore throat and sneezing.
In others with flu-like symptoms with fever, headache, muscle and bone pain, persistent cough and sometimes loss of smell and taste.
To these, however, new symptoms would be added:
- shortness of breath
- tiredness and exhaustion
- loss of appetite
- dizziness and brain fog
- heart problems and palpitations
- diarrhea.
Further investigations into the Covid Xe variant are ongoing, as the data currently does not allow many conclusions to be drawn other than a warning not to let our guard down.
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