Covid XE variant found in Gujarat, says report

New Delhi: The XE variant of Covid-19, a more infectious variety, has been found in Gujarat. The new variant was found in a patient who had tested positive for the virus a month ago, the additional chief secretary of the state’s health department said.

According to The Indian Express report, an official confirmed that the XE variant was detected in a 67-year-old Gujarat man, who had tested positive on March 12. The Gujarat resident had travelled from Mumbai to Vadodara and had tested positive for the virus upon arrival.

“Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre detected the XE variant in the patient 12 days ago. The sample was sent for confirmation as per INSACOG guidelines, to a Kolkata laboratory (DBT- National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani). The confirmation report of the XE variant was received Friday night. We are getting more details and trying to trace his close contacts,” the official said.

The XE variant is a recombinant of BA.1 and BA.2, the sub-lineages of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19. In addition to those, it has three other mutations which were not there in Omicron or BA.1 or BA.2. “That is why it is called XE. It will now be a variant,” Rakesh Mishra, Director of the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society, Bengaluru, told PTI.

ALSO READ | Fourth wave scare! XE variant of Covid-19 in India? All we know about new variant and its symptoms

Meanwhile,  Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-Chairman National IMA COVID task force, on Thursday said that going by the trends so far, there is nothing surprising about the discovery of the new XE variant. XE variant is a slightly tuned-up version of Omicron, not an all-new variant.

Jayadevan said the XE variant is the combination of BA.1 and BA.2 where X stands for Recombinant Type and E is the sequence of its discovery. Mutation and recombination are techniques used by viruses to become fitter.

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