INSACOG has decided to undertake another round of genomic sequencing at a national laboratory for confirmation
INSACOG has decided to undertake another round of genomic sequencing at a national laboratory for confirmation
The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday denied claims that India has reported its first case. COVID-19 variant, XE, in Mumbai. One case of Omicron’s new sub-variant, XE, was found in the results of the 11th batch of next generation genome sequencing on 230 COVID-19 positive patients, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
The BMC noted that a 50-year-old female patient, a costume designer by profession and a member of a film shooting crew, who had come from South Africa on February 10, 2022, had tested positive for XE. The civic body said she has been double vaccinated, and she tested negative for COVID-19 on her arrival in India, but on March 2, 2022, in a routine test conducted by Suburban Diagnostics, she was found positive and quarantined. The result of the test done the next day was negative.
According to the BMC, out of the 230 COVID-19 patients tested, 228 were infected with the Omicron variant, while one was infected with the kappa variant. Of these, 21 had to be hospitalized. None of them were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and did not require oxygen support.
However, a senior health official said, “The FactQ files regarding the sample, which is being called the XE variant, were analyzed in detail by genomic experts from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). This type of genomic constitution is not related to the genomic picture of the XE variant.
The BMC in its release said: “The patient’s laboratory sample has been sent to Kasturba Hospital Central Laboratory for whole genome sequencing. Preliminary sequencing has found this new XE variant. Although GISAID has also confirmed this, INSACOG has confirmed the same. The National Laboratory has decided to go for another round of genomic sequencing for definitive confirmation of the XE variant.
“This woman is completely asymptomatic and was found to be RT-PCR negative on repeated tests. XE, a new variant of COVID, is a combination of BA.1 and BA.2 strains of Omicron and has been found to be responsible for increasing viral transmission as per primary reports. Frequent changes in genomic structure are part of the natural life of the virus and there is no need to fear, but one should opt for proper precaution,” the BMC said.
XE is a recombinant mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. According to experts, when a patient is infected with multiple variants of the virus, recombinant mutations emerge.
INSACOG is the platform that was set up on December 30, 2020 by the Government of India under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to conduct genome sequencing and virus variations monitoring of circulating strains of COVID-19 in India. The federation ascertains the status of Variant of Interest (VoI) and Variant of Concern (VoC) in the country; Establishes sentinel surveillance and growth monitoring mechanisms for early detection of genomic variants; and assists in building an effective public health response. It also determines the presence of genomic variants in samples collected during super-spreader events and in regions reporting an increasing trend of cases/deaths etc.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the new subvariant XE, saying it is more contagious than any variant of COVID-19. Altogether there are three hybrid or recombinant viruses that have been detected so far. These are the XD, XE and XF, of which the XD and XF are a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants. The XE variant is a hybrid of Omicron’s two versions – BA.1 and BA.2.
The new Mutant XE first appeared in mid-January this year. Britain’s health agency said on 3 April that XE was first detected on 19 January and that 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in that country so far.