New mutations of Omicron subvariants keep popping up around the world, but they’re not necessarily a cause for concern. The youngest, a subvariant called X BB.1.5, is gaining traction in the United States. It is also circulating in France “at fairly low levels” but at the moment it does not cause “particular concern”, the French public health agency stressed in its weekly update on Friday. In recent weeks, “between 30 and 50 sequences” of this variant have been identified on the territory, which means that it is circulating in the country “at fairly low levels”, indicated Justine Schaeffer, variant expert at the health agency.
This grandson of the Omicron family of Covid-19 is spreading rapidly in the United States, especially on the East Coast and in the New York area. “We are awaiting data but the positive fact is that there has been no sign of increased severity” noted the American authorities, reported Justine Schaeffer.
Reassuring data
If it imposes itself in Europe, will it be able to change the current epidemic dynamics? Hard to say at the moment. “The data on severity are quite reassuring, there are no particular concerns at this stage,” she added. For the moment only one study, carried out in vitro, has not shown immune escape to the antibodies of this subvariant compared to what was observed with the previous variants.
Last week, the slowdown in the circulation of SARS Cov-2 was also accentuated on the national territory. The incidence rate has sharply decreased in all age groups in a context of significant decline in the screening rate, particularly among the under 60s. The number of new hospitalizations remained high, but down for the second consecutive week, according to Public Health France.
