New COVID strain that may hit Australians this coming holidays

As the festive season approaches, Australians look forward to celebrating with family and friends.

Still, a shadow looms on the horizon with the emergence of a new COVID-19 strain that experts warn could reach our shores by Christmas.

The strain, known as XEC, is raising concerns because it can potentially be more infectious than previous variants.


First detected in Germany in June, the XEC strain is a recombinant of two other sub-variants and has since been identified in 27 countries.

This rapid spread has put the global medical community on high alert.

Australian infectious diseases expert Dr Paul Griffin emphasised the need for vigilance, especially among those planning to travel abroad.


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A new COVID variant named XEC, potentially more infectious, is spreading globally and may arrive in Australia by Christmas. Credit: Shutterstock


The XEC variant is a descendant of the Omicron strain and combines elements of the sub-variants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.

While it's still early days, and speculation about the severity of symptoms is premature, Dr Griffin notes that the strain appears to have a significant growth advantage.

This suggested that it could be more adept at evading immunity and potentially more infectious.


The medical community closely monitors XEC to determine if it will be the next sub-variant to cause an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

‘The main thing about Covid is it's still quite unpredictable,’ Dr Griffin said.

‘There's a large number of factors that contribute to whether we see increased waves of transmission.’

As the Northern Hemisphere enters winter, conditions become more conducive to the spread of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.

With international travel back in full swing, the risk of importing new cases into Australia increases.

‘The world is once again a very small place, and that activity does flow on to being imported into our country,’ Dr Griffin added.

‘We could have another wave of increased transmission in the next few weeks, or it could be months till we see that.’


The question of vaccine efficacy against XEC remains unanswered.

The World Health Organization and other regulatory bodies have agreed on an updated booster, JN.1, to combat emerging strains.

However, if XEC proves to be a significant threat, further updates to the vaccines may be necessary.

As of 29 August, no sequences of the XEC variant had been reported to Australia's genomic surveillance system.

However, the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control and state and territory health departments are conducting targeted genomic sequencing to stay ahead of emerging variants.


In other news, earlier this year, Victoria experienced a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the JN.1 subvariant, leading to increased hospitalisations.

The seven-day average for hospitalisations has climbed to 377—substantially higher than before, yet still below last year's peak. You can read more about it here.
Key Takeaways
  • A new Covid variant named XEC, which is 'potentially more infectious', is spreading globally and may hit Australia by Christmas.
  • XEC is a recombinant descendant of the Omicron Covid strain, first detected in Germany and reported in 27 countries.
  • Experts, including Australian infectious diseases specialist Dr Paul Griffin, closely monitor the variant and assess vaccine efficacy against it.
  • Australian health authorities have not identified the XEC variant in the country as of the latest reports, but the Department of Health continues to monitor emerging COVID-19 variants closely.
How will new COVID strains like XEC affect your holiday plans? What steps should Australians take as the festive season approaches? Let us know in the comments below.
 
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to those who have been lucky enough to escape covid, you are lucky. I caught it on a cruise and had 8 days in isolation, phneumonia and very very ill for 12 days. my immune system due to ailments is not top of the pops. Do not be so clever as once you have had it ie. like myself you will think a whole lot diffferently. experience is a great leveller. stay safe.
 
The difference between Covid 19 and Flu's are with Flu's you get it and can become very sick but once your better ,your better.

With Covid 19 you can get very sick or hardly any symptoms at all. Covid can really attack your lungs.
With Covid once your better you can end up with Long Covid and symptoms that just don't go away and this can be the case for those who had hardly no symptoms as well as those who were very sick.

A friend's son who is a Police Officer and is very fit, had Covid 2 years ago. He wasn't that sick and was back to work the next week. But then he struggled to get out of bed, he was very fatigue, he had absolutely no energy and struggled to to day to day things.
He has been to doctors and went to St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and was diagnosed with Long Covid. He is still no better and is on leave from his job.

His life has been turned upside down and because of this illness he now suffered depression. He is 51 ,with many working years left but he is facing an illness that he has no idea if he will ever get better.

He is vaccinated
 
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Two issues I have
1 Where’s Covid 20? Just call it Covid and drop the 19, as it kicks my OCD off.
2 Go back through the figures, Covid came out and there was no influenza for almost two seasons. Historically, people died from flu, but that has never been an issue, but call it by another name and its ’jab with an untested drug’.
You may guess I’m agitated as I blame the jab on the passing of my wife.
 
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So why did you bother having the first poison when you haven’t been sick?
I work in the disability sector (still do) - it was a case of vaccinate or no job! Under the guise of protecting the vulnerable! Got the original vaccine + 1 booster - refused to get anymore. Tested positive to covid once - 3rd yr in. Contracted a worse virus while travelling from Europe back to Aust in 2023 - that virus laid me up for 4 days in a hotel room in Singapore - it was 10 x's worse than covid, could not lift my head off the pillow - no antibiotics - just bed rest.
 
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covid is a medical condition and too many write about it and do not have medical experience. If you have truly experienced it and been isolated for 8 days and had pneumonia with it then got out 12 days after, then you have my heartfelt sympathy. I also ended up with long covid.
 
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I work in the disability sector (still do) - it was a case of vaccinate or no job! Under the guise of protecting the vulnerable! Got the original vaccine + 1 booster - refused to get anymore. Tested positive to covid once - 3rd yr in. Contracted a worse virus while travelling from Europe back to Aust in 2023 - that virus laid me up for 4 days in a hotel room in Singapore - it was 10 x's worse than covid, could not lift my head off the pillow - no antibiotics - just bed rest.
Thanks
 

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