L’World Health Organization he recognized her in all respects as new variant Covid to be monitored carefully. XBFto which the name was given Bythosworries because it is the newcomer of the stock of virus Omicronthe most feared in recent years.
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The new variant
From start pandemic and Coronavirus several variants have followed that have worried virologists around the world. Among all, Omicron (discovered in South Africa at the end of 2021 and characterized by a significant presence of mutations), has given rise to multiple subvariantsdaughters of the same lineage, and responsible for the current waves of contagion. They are subvariants known for their marked transmissibility and elusiveness to neutralizing antibodies, both those triggered by a previous natural infection and those induced by Vaccine anti Covid, currently still extremely valuable in protecting against the virus. And now the new XBF «Bythos» (Bito) variant has ended up in the WHO spotlight. A new threat constantly under the magnifying glass of epidemiologywhich evaluate the trends and growth in the various countries.
Where is she born
Bythos it was identified for the first time on 27 July last year and, after remaining undetected, it began to appear in some countries. In Australiafor example, in the State of Victoria has caused a significant surge in hospitalizations for Covid. It is believed that Bythos emerged precisely in those areas. And now it’s also circulating significantly in New South Wales and other South Australian states. As of the middle of last month, it accounted for 12% of the sequences recorded by Australian experts. Over 100 sequences have also been deposited in New Zealand, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Austria.
What do we know
XBF is a recombinant daughter variant of BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1. As explained byOMS has the same mutations as Omicron 5 (BA.5) plus the following: S:K147E, S:W152R, S:F157L, S:I210V, S:G257S, S:G339H, S:R346T, S:G446S, S:N460K, S:F486P, S :F490S. They are all located on the protein S o Spikethe biological hook that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus exploits to bind to the ACE-2 receptor of human cells, break the cell wall, insert the viral RNA and trigger the replication process that determines the disease (COVID-19).
Bythos in Italy
To date it is not possible to say whether Bythos is more elusive o transmissible of the other variants, or even that it can cause a more serious disease, for this reason the WHO carefully monitors the situation pending developments. The same organization in the last bulletin concerning 60 thousand sequences recorded between January 30th and February 28th, stated that the combined strains of Omicron, from which Bythos derives, represent 41.8% of the total, 32.6% concerning the Kraken variant, while only 1.2% for Bythos. Numbers that at the moment do not alarm the experts, who however keep their attention high especially should a strong transmissibility of this variant emerge. In Italy at the moment Bythos represents the 0,82% of the sequences detected, with 31 confirmed cases.
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