PUNE: India has confirmed its first case of Omicron‘s XBB.1.5 in Gujarat this December, Insacog data showed.
XBB.1.5 is a sub-variant that international scientists have flagged for being responsible for a surge in Covid cases and hospitalisations in New York. XBB itself is a recombinant of two different BA.2 sub-variants of Omicron. But its descendant, XBB.1.5, is believed to have a tighter bind to the ACE2 receptor, which would explain its higher level of transmissibility, according to US scientist Eric Topol.
With the detection of the first XBB.1.5 case closer home, Maharashtra state public health authorities are now focused on not allowing the sub-variant to enter the state due to its proximity to Gujarat.
Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra surveillance officer, told TOI, “We are keeping a watch on the genetic footprints of the virus. The state is carrying out 100% genomic sequencing, while international arrivals are also undergoing thermal screening and random sampling of 2% of these is also being done. Positive samples are then being sent for genome sequencing.”
Awate said, “We have more than 275 cases of XBB in Maharashtra. But XBB.1.5 is another offshoot and little is known about its transmissibility. But being an XBB descendant, it indicates that there is only a minor change in the original version of the sub variant. Still, we are taking necessary precautions to prevent its entry/spread in the state.”
Dr Awate said the way a sub-variant might be behaving in the US could be different from its implications in India due to factors such as immunity and ethnicity.
Maharashtra’s coordinator for genome sequencing, Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, said XBB.1.5 has not been detected in the state so far. He said, “In the US, a descendant of XBB – XBB.1.5 – is replacing the previously dominating BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 sub-lineages. Currently, XBB.1.5 is growing in New York ahead of others. We have already seen in Maharashtra that XBB is the most dominant variant and has not allowed BA.5 and its sub-lineages, like BQ.1, to dominate.”
He said, “XBB has greater immune evasiveness than others and it is adding more mutations like XBB.1.5. It is doing this to infect more people after immunity levels in the population have been rising from recurrent past infections/vaccine shots.”
Virologist Dr Shahid Jameel said multiple variants over the past one year were all Omicron descendants. “Unless there is a completely new variant lineage, we should not be worried. But we have to be vigilant. The reason is over 90% of adults in India have two doses of a vaccine, 30% have booster doses,” he said.
XBB.1.5 is a sub-variant that international scientists have flagged for being responsible for a surge in Covid cases and hospitalisations in New York. XBB itself is a recombinant of two different BA.2 sub-variants of Omicron. But its descendant, XBB.1.5, is believed to have a tighter bind to the ACE2 receptor, which would explain its higher level of transmissibility, according to US scientist Eric Topol.
With the detection of the first XBB.1.5 case closer home, Maharashtra state public health authorities are now focused on not allowing the sub-variant to enter the state due to its proximity to Gujarat.
Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra surveillance officer, told TOI, “We are keeping a watch on the genetic footprints of the virus. The state is carrying out 100% genomic sequencing, while international arrivals are also undergoing thermal screening and random sampling of 2% of these is also being done. Positive samples are then being sent for genome sequencing.”
Awate said, “We have more than 275 cases of XBB in Maharashtra. But XBB.1.5 is another offshoot and little is known about its transmissibility. But being an XBB descendant, it indicates that there is only a minor change in the original version of the sub variant. Still, we are taking necessary precautions to prevent its entry/spread in the state.”
Dr Awate said the way a sub-variant might be behaving in the US could be different from its implications in India due to factors such as immunity and ethnicity.
Maharashtra’s coordinator for genome sequencing, Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, said XBB.1.5 has not been detected in the state so far. He said, “In the US, a descendant of XBB – XBB.1.5 – is replacing the previously dominating BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 sub-lineages. Currently, XBB.1.5 is growing in New York ahead of others. We have already seen in Maharashtra that XBB is the most dominant variant and has not allowed BA.5 and its sub-lineages, like BQ.1, to dominate.”
He said, “XBB has greater immune evasiveness than others and it is adding more mutations like XBB.1.5. It is doing this to infect more people after immunity levels in the population have been rising from recurrent past infections/vaccine shots.”
Virologist Dr Shahid Jameel said multiple variants over the past one year were all Omicron descendants. “Unless there is a completely new variant lineage, we should not be worried. But we have to be vigilant. The reason is over 90% of adults in India have two doses of a vaccine, 30% have booster doses,” he said.
