Nathan Jeffay is a science and Times of Israel correspondent.
COVID-19 experts around the world are watching with fear the XBB. 1. 5 subvariant as wildfire in the United States.
There are still no cases shown in Israel. But about 41% of U. S. cases are not yet shown. The U. S. is now rated XBB. 1. 5, doubling the number of diagnoses in just one week, making the strain dominant. , deserves to be only a matter of time until it reaches the Holy Land.
If so, it could shake up the relative COVID calm the country enjoys lately, with an estimated 1,000 new cases shown per day and a decline in deaths and severe cases.
Nothing like XBB. 1. 5 has been noticed since 2021, according to immunologist Dr. Yariv Wine of Tel Aviv University.
“It appears to spread faster than any other variant since Omicron gave the impression in November 2021 and then spread in early 2022,” Wine said. “Virologists call it ‘a big variation’ because it’s so transmissible. “
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, epidemiologist and head of the COVID Risk Task Force at the New England Institute for Complex Systems, XBB1. 5 a “super variant. “
XBB. 1. 5, which is mutated from the original Omicron strain, appears faster than the others because it binds better to human cells.
“A mutation in the virus is localized at the site where it binds to human cells,” Wine said. “To infect humans well, the virus will have to bind to cells, and XBB. 1. 5 appears to do so very closely. “
However, he said his ability to spread may be exaggerated through the most recent U. S. statistics. They stick to a season of gatherings and holiday parties in which social contact is higher than normal.
There is no indication that the variant is more severe than others, or that it is other symptoms, Wine said, adding: “We have the toolbox to deal with this, in the form of bivalent vaccines. “
These are the vaccines that have been changed to better respond to later variants, which will be available in many countries, including Israel.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a letter of studies, concluding that for other people who gained normal vaccines, “other people who gained the bivalent booster containing BA. 5 had higher neutralizing activity compared to all Omicron subvariants. “
Wine said: “There are indications that bivalent reinforcement provides greater coverage compared to all subvariants of Omicron. And while we don’t yet know how well it works compared to the latest variant, from what we know so far, there’s no explanation for why you think it will be any different.
Vaccines do not prevent infection, but restrict its severity.
“As such, if other vulnerable people have become stronger in the past 4 months or more, it is recommended that they receive the bivalent reinforcement,” Wine said. “This can reduce the number of severe cases. “
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