NEW DELHI: An investigation into the clinical and epidemiological features of XBB.1.16, triggering the current Covid-19 surge in India, has shown that the new variant is mild and has so far not caused any severe diseases in India. The initial study, which has been submitted to the government, has indicated that out of the 42 people who were infected in Maharashtra with XBB.1.16 - currently a variant of interest - 36 (87.80 per cent) recovered with supportive treatment.
The profiling, which was carried out by Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, head of the Microbiology department, BJMC, Pune, and Maharashtra coordinator for genome sequencing, showed that the one death which was reported due to this sub-variant was of a patient suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and prostate.
“We have submitted our preliminary findings to the government. We want to extend it further to include more patients. Our analysis has shown mild symptoms and has not caused any severity or increased hospitalisations. Genome sequencing helped in detecting the sub-variant at an early stage,” Dr Karyakarte told this paper. The sub-variant was already circulating in Pune before it was officially named globally on March 5. In Maharashtra, 60 per cent of the cases are due to the new sub-variant.
The initial study also showed that six people were suffering from co-morbidities. Of the 42, 39 were found to be symptomatic, 12 were hospitalised, and 27 were on home quarantine. Of those hospitalised, only four required oxygen. One person had travelled to Singapore, while three had travelled within India. The study further investigated 41 people for how many were vaccinated. While one opted out from further research, 31 were vaccinated with double doses, four were not. Of them, 11 had taken the booster doses. The result showed that the precaution or booster dose helped reduce disease severity.
While two had taken the first dose, 24 had taken the second dose. The symptoms of the new sub-variant are almost the same as that of the Omicron variant. Most of the people who were analysed reported high fever, cough, cold, muscle pain, weakness/fatigue, breathlessness, headache, and sore throat. Meanwhile, India on Sunday continued to report a high number of Covid-19 cases. As many as 3,824 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
According to Krishna Prasad N C, a Covid data analyst, India saw a rise in Covid-19 cases in March. While in January, 4,246 cases and 35 deaths were reported, in February, a slight dip was seen, with 3,720 cases and 32 deaths. But March saw a sudden spike, with 32,219 cases and 101 deaths reported nationwide. Of the total cases and deaths reported till March 31, Kerala recorded the maximum.
Of the total 32,219 cases, Kerala recorded 6,741 cases and 37 deaths. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to monitor Covid-19 sub-variant XBB.1.16. Noting that the sub-variant is “one to watch,” Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease specialist and WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead said that the virus hasn’t settled into a predictable pattern and continues to evolve.
At a press briefing this week, she said that XBB.1.16 has a similar profile to XBB.1.5 but has additional changes in the spike protein. She said XBB.1.16 had replaced other circulating sub-variants in India. So far, there are about 800 sequences from 22 countries, mainly from India. She said in lab studies, XBB.1.16 had shown signs of increased infectivity and potentially increased pathogenicity. “So this is one to watch. It’s been in circulation for a few months,” she said. “We haven’t seen a change in severity in individuals or populations, but that’s why we have these systems in place.”