Experts: Corona variant XBB.1.5 will also spread in Europe

“One can say with some prognostic certainty that the variant will also become the dominant variant for us,” said the German epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb. XBB.1.5 has rapidly increased in frequency in the northeastern United States and has dominated the infection process there since mid-December, said Richard Neher, head of the research group Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. Outside of the northeastern United States, the variant is even less common, but the proportion is increasing.

Very easy to transfer

Corona specialist Maria van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that the subline was easier to transfer than any of the previously known variants. According to Neher, there is little information about the severity of diseases. Cases and hospitalizations have increased across the US, not just in regions where XBB.1.5 is prevalent, the expert said. This is at least a first indication that the degree of severity does not differ significantly from that of other variants currently circulating.

“XBB.1.5 meets a declining immunity of people whose vaccination or infection was a long time ago,” explained the Bremen expert Zeeb. “First in the USA and then also here in Germany.” However, the number of proofs of XBB.1.5 in Germany is currently still very low. “You don’t have to think about new measures yet.”

Antibody drug ineffective?

The US drug agency FDA is now questioning the effectiveness of the Covid drug Evusheld from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca with the subvariant XBB.1.5. According to the authority, it expects further data to assess how Evusheld works against the variant. However, the FDA assumes that the antibody drug does not neutralize the subvariant.

As reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) was already concerned about the new coronavirus variant on Wednesday. The variant discovered in October is as easily transferrable as none of the previously known variants, it said. According to the available gene analyzes of the virus, it is spreading mainly in the USA and Europe and has already been detected in 29 countries. It is a subgroup of the Omicron variant that has been circulating since the end of 2021. A risk analysis is in progress and will be published shortly.