Introduction: The new XEC-Covid

Scientists say the more contagious
virus is a subspecies of the
Omicron type, with a new “more

contagious” virus type called
XEC spreading faster across
Europe and could soon become
the dominant virus.

Eric Topol, director of the Institute
for Translational Research at the
Scripps Research Institute in

La Jolla, wrote in a post Sunday.
Researchers predicted in
August that the strain would

spread more quickly and could
take weeks or months to spread.
“XEC is definitely a leader,” said Dr. Topol.

XEC, a subspecies of Omicron,
was first reported in Berlin, Germany
in June and is now spreading “very

quickly” across Europe, North
America and Asia, according
to coronavirus data

analyst Mike Haney.
In August, Slovenia had the
highest incidence of the

variant, more than 10 percent
of the Covid case samples
from the country contained XEC.

The new coronavirus that
causes Covid is a hybrid
of previously discovered

Omicron subtypes – KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.

Omicron subtypes – KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.
KS.1.1 is a version
known as the FLiRT version.

It is characterized by a
mutation of phenylalanine
(F), a building block of the

spike protein that the virus
uses to attach to human cells.
The second subversion of

Omicron is the FLuQE KP.3.3
type, in which the amino acid

glutamine (Q) in the spike protein is converted to glutamic acid (E), which makes binding to human cells more efficient.

To date, XEC has been detected in more than 500 samples from 27 countries, including Poland, Norway, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Portugal and China.

Analysts point to a significant increase of this type in Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

As the coronavirus continues to evolve, data shows that XEC is steadily growing day by day, surpassing previously known subspecies.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to practice good hygiene and take steps to keep the air clean.

The researchers call for closer monitoring of the XEC variant to better understand the symptoms.