Thailand medical authorities report more than a 100 percent increase in weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations. New XEC variant suspected as culprit
Thailand medical authorities reported a total of 569 new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations for the week 25th to 31st of August, representing an average of about 81 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day.
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Thailand medical authorities report more than a 100 percent increase in weekly
COVID-19 hospitalizations. New XEC variant suspected as culprit
Of this new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations, 91 needed supplemental oxygen and are in ICU.
https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main
This new data on COVID-19 hospitalizations represents more than a 100 percent increase compared to the previous week where only 258 new hospitalizations were reported for the period 18th to 24th of August 2024.
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There was only one COVID-19 death reported for the week 25th to 31st of August.
The total number of COVID-19 patients treated in hospital since 1 January 2024 totals 37,922.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths since 1 January 2024 is 200.
Possibility of New SARS-CoV-2 XEC variant behind the new surge.
We cannot confirm nor validate if the new XEC variant is behind the new surge.
This new SARS-CoV-2 XEC variant is supposed to be more transmissible than even the KP.3.1.1 variant.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/the-sars-cov-2-variants-that-could-drive-the-fall-winter-wave-xec-xed-mb-1-1-mw-1-and-xdv-1-1
This XEC variant a recombinant of KS.1.1 (FLiRT) and KP.3.3 (FLuQE). First detected in Berlin in late June 2024, this XEC variant has shown an unprecedented growth rate, making it a likely contender against the currently dominant DeFLuQE variants, such as KP.3.1.1 and its descendants.
https://github.com/cov-lineages/pango-designation/issues/2717
https://cov-spectrum.org/explore/World/AllSamples/Past6M/variants?nucMutations=C18657T%2CC19716T%2CC25006T
This XEC variant todate has spread rapidly across Europe, North America, and Asia, with hundreds of samples reported from 15 countries across three continents.&
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At present in the United States, it now represents 0.25% of all samples collected.
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/raj.rajnarayanan/viz/USAVariantDB/VariantDashboard
So far, we cannot find any data if the XEC variant has already debuted in Thailand as genomic sequencing is extremely minimal. Some doctors and
Thailand Medical experts however speculate that this new variant has already made its way to Thailand and is possibly behind the week’s increase and they anticipate that cases will start to rise once again gradually.
The unique characteristics of XEC, including the spike T22N mutation in combination with FLuQE mutations, may give it a significant advantage in transmissibility. It also contains the spike F59S mutation.
Current data indicate that XEC is growing at a rate of 3.8% per day, translating to a weekly growth of 27%, the fastest of any known variant. While it remains in the early stages of spread, experts anticipate that XEC could become more prevalent by October or later, particularly in countries like Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, where its presence has already been noted.
For the latest COVID-19 News, keep on logging to
Thailand Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/nova-scotia-the-canadian-province-on-the-east-coast-reports-rising-covid-19-infections
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/ohio-reports-more-than-8000-new-covid-19-cases-216-hospitalizations-and-21-deaths-last-week
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