The XBB.1.5 micron variant is very effective at evading the immune system and is rapidly becoming dominant in the United States.
According to the researchers, the omicron variant XBB.1.5 appears to bind to cells more effectively than previous omicron subvariants and now accounts for 41 percent of all new covid-19 cases in the United States, reports CNBC.
Doubling of cases in the United States
Since last week, there is almost a doubling of cases caused by XBB.1.5. In the United States, researchers and public health officials have been closely monitoring the XBB subvariant family, as this strain carries many mutations that could make COVID-19 vaccines less effective.
XBB was first identified in India in August and quickly became the dominant variant there, several minor variants of XBB have since been developed.
Binds better to cells
According to Andrea PekoszJohns Hopkins University virologist, XBB.1.5 differs from other XBB variants in that it has an additional mutation that makes it bind better to cells.
“The virus has to bind tightly to cells to be more efficient at getting in, and that could help the virus be a little more efficient at infecting people,” he told CNBC.
Published on Tuesday Yunlong Richard Caoresearcher and assistant professor at Peking University, data on Twitter shows that XBB.1.5 is better than the XBB.1 variant at binding to cells through a key receptor.
Resistant to Evusheld
In a study Columbia University researchers warn that increasing XBB subvariants could further compromise the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The XBB subvariants are also resistant to the antibody drug Evusheld, which is important for many with weak immune systems.
The researchers described the resistance of the XBB subvariants to vaccination and infection antibodies as a ‘warning’.
Subvariants of XBB are even more effective at evading protection from booster doses of vaccines designed to combat omicrons than subvariants of BQ, which are also very immuno-evasive.
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Read more: Subvariants of Omicron evade immune protection [Dagens PS]
