The coronavirus is constantly changing – and with it the symptoms. The XEC variant, a great-grandchild of Omicron, is currently spreading in many countries.
In this country, XEC was discovered in June and the numbers increased. KP.3.1.1 currently dominates with a share of 60 percent, the XEC subline accounts for 20 percent. That’s what they show Figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for calendar week 39 .
Many experts predict that XEC will be the dominant variant in many countries this winter. Because it is highly contagious – which does not automatically mean that it makes you more ill.
Doctor warns: “More flu-like than previous variants”
In Great Britain, a doctor has now issued a new warning – and drawn attention to a special XEC symptom: extreme fatigue.
Helen Wall, a general practitioner in England, recently spoke to the “ Manchester Evening News “ about the rising XEC cases and said: Anyone who becomes infected with this variant should be prepared to feel “knocked out.”
“We could definitely see the new Covid variant in practices,” said Wall. “At the moment it seems to be a little more flu-like than previous Covid variants high temperature, cough, body aches and headaches.“
Of course, the symptoms of colds, flu and corona are often difficult to distinguish and overlap. She added from her current experience: “Some of the symptoms in the past have been more cough and cold symptoms, but at the moment Covid seems to be knocking people out.”
Further corona symptoms at a glance
Basically, the symptoms of the XEC variant of Corona are similar to those of other variants. The National Health Service (NHS) in Great Britain lists them again:
- High temperature or chills (chills) – a high temperature means you feel hot when you touch your chest or back.
- new, persistent cough – this means severe coughing for more than an hour or three or more coughing fits within 24 hours
- Loss or a change in the sense of smell or taste
- shortness of breath
- Tiredness or exhaustion
- Body aches
- Headache
- Sore throat
- stuffy or runny nose
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Feeling sick
Heartburn as an unexpected symptom
In Germany, too, there are repeated reports in which people describe their corona infection as very severe. One of them is Paul *. He told FOCUS online that he hadn’t felt this bad in a long time: “In the evening I fell asleep because of exhaustion and then woke up again in the middle of the night. Nothing worked without painkillers, but sleeping again was out of the question.”
In addition, Paul initially had a symptom that was unexpected for him: heartburn . This didn’t surprise his doctor: “Covid travels throughout the entire body and the stomach and intestines are very sensitive.”
In rural areas, these have so far been isolated cases. “We don’t see a trend,” the RKI said online at the end of September when asked by FOCUS.
In general, the currently circulating coronavirus variants such as KP.3.1.1 and XEC do not make people more seriously ill than their predecessors. When asked by FOCUS online, Ulf Dittmer, director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital Essen, reassured: “In the vast majority of cases, our T-cell immunity prevents severe illness from occurring.”
XEC is the great, great, great grandchild of the original Omicron variant
What exactly is in XEC? “XEC is a recombination of two different, little-discussed subvariants: KS.1.1 and KP.3.3,” explains physician and infectious disease specialist Elisabeth Hudson from California to the Los Angeles Times. XEC contains additional mutations in the spike protein that allow it to bind even better to human cells.
It remains to be seen whether the current vaccines offer protection against this new variant. But Hudson assumes this is the case to some extent, as XEC is a “great, great, great grandchild” of the original Omicron variant. “So a certain level of protection will still exist.”
*Paul’s real name is known to the editors.
