No need to panic – XBB.1.5 not a more dangerous Covid sub-variant

While the XBB.1.5 variant may infect a higher number of people than other sub-variants, it does not cause more severe illness than the other sub-variants of Omicron, says Dr Aslam Dasoo, convenor of the Progressive Health Forum.

There has been a lot of panic created over the last couple of days following the detection of the new sub-variant in question.

The Health Department has since called on South Africans not to panic as the matter was being closely monitored.

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Speaking to The Citizen, Dasoo said there is no reason for any extraordinary measures or restrictions to deal with this sub-variant.

“It is important to avoid causing unnecessary alarm and confusion.

“There is no evidence of a new variant of concern and Omicron remains the overwhelmingly dominant strain around the world, including in China,” said Dasoo.

According to Dasoo, while highly infectious, Omicron causes much less severe disease, hospitalisation and death than previous variants and has changed the course of the pandemic.

Commenting further on the new XBB.1.5 sub-variant, Dasoo says it is a little more efficient than other sub-variants of Omicron at evading immunity from previous infection and vaccination.

“The XBB.1.5 variant is responsible for over 70% of cases in the US, with the surge mainly felt on its east coast and has been detected around the world, including in SA.

“South Africa has widespread background population immunity against Omicron, in excess of 90%, due to high levels of natural infection during 2022, as well as from vaccination and this is why there is no need for any restrictions that would impair normal activity in the population.

“As always, it must be understood that we’re not in a war against the virus, as politicians like to characterise it. If we were, we’ve already lost,” he said.

The virus is a public health issue and the most important thing to do is to protect oneself by avoiding getting infected and through vaccination, Dasoo stressed.

Who are at risk?

“Those who are at high risk are people over the age of 60 with serious comorbidity or those who are incompletely vaccinated or unvaccinated.

“Regardless of the circulating strain, people should avoid being in unnecessary contact with those who are ill with upper respiratory symptoms and avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation,” Dasoo advised.

How to protect oneself

If it is necessary to be indoors, high risk persons could wear a well-fitting medical grade mask (N95 standard), Dasoo says.

“While XBB may cause a rise in cases in SA, common sense should guide behaviour in the general population.

“If one feels ill, try to get tested and avoid spreading the virus if positive,” Dasoo added.

There is a need for people to become more circumspect when sharing on Twitter with what remains an ever-evolving variant for the past year – with repeated claims of greater transmissibility, which generally has remained clinically irrelevant in settings with high levels of immunity against severe disease, another health expert Prof Shabir Madhi said.

“The data from the US where XBB.1.5 dominates does not show any major upswing in hospitalisation.

“In South Africa, Covid-19 hospitalisation still occurs, although at low rates, which is expected,” said Madhi.

He stressed that even if XBB.1.5 is more transmissible and more able to evade antibody neutralising activity, there is no indication that it is evading T cell immunity which is mediating protection against severe disease.

“It is unclear what value exist in publicising something on social media which is not clinically relevant,” Madhi added.

While the new sub-variant is fast spread, it is not virulent at this stage, another expert and private practitioner Dr Angelique Coetzee says.

“We have not seen a lot of cases as yet in South Africa and only the next two or three weeks will be able to give us a better idea about what we can expect but for now we don’t see any increase in respiratory tract infection.

“While it might change at any time, it is not a severe disease and it’s quite mild,” Coetzee added.

South Africa experienced its first rise in Covid-19 cases in 2020 and, at the time, experts were warning of the worst yet to come.

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In 2021, hospitals also felt the strain as the numbers of infections continued to rise.

ALSO READ: Hospitals ‘under strain’

Meanwhile, the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) met on Tuesday to deliberate on measures needed to tackle the new sub-variant.