Coronavirus: Indians infected with Omicron XBB have mild disease, no severity; INSACOG says

Cases of people infected with Omicron sub-lineage XBB of COVID-19 are rising in India. However, the situation is not one to panic as Indian patients infected with XBB have mild disease and no increase in severity is noted, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said, according to PTI.

INSACOG is a forum set up under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare by the Government of India to study and monitor genome sequencing and virus variation of circulating strains of COVID-19 in India.

"XBB, a BJ.1/BM.1.1.1 recombinant lineage with breakpoint in the spike protein, is presently appearing in multiple countries. This recombinant lineage was first detected in Singapore and the US, and has also been identified in multiple states in India," INSACOG panel said. XBB.1 – a sub-lineage of XBB with an additional mutation is also detected.

"Modest increase in the spread of XBB in Singapore has been observed. However, there has been no report of increase in severity of disease or increase in hospitalisation associated with these variants," it added.

The INSACOG expert panel noted that in the current phase of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is continuously accumulating mutations – some of which might contribute to increased transmissibility and immune evasion.

The World Health Organisation notes that there has been a broad increase in prevalence of XBB* in regional genomic surveillance, however, it has not yet been consistently associated with an increase in new infections.

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Quoting data from INSACOG dashboard, Vinod Scaria, scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), tweeted: “Data suggests XBB* has emerged as the predominant lineage of #SARSCoV2 in #India in the recent weeks. XBB* now accounts for ~48% of all isolates in epiweek. No abnormal spike in infections or clinical outcomes have been noted yet…”

Scaria also mentioned that asymptomatic infection and transmission cannot be discounted, given the background immunity in the population.

INSACOG said it is keeping a close watch and monitoring the emergence and evolution of XBB and XBB.1 and any new sub-lineages.

"The community need not panic and adherence to coronavirus appropriate behaviour is recommended in the light of ongoing festivities," PTI quoted.

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India's Coronavirus infection cases surge to 4,46,57,149 after 1,321 people tested positive in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The active cases have declined to 16,098. In a span of 24 hours, a decrease of 145 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload. At present, the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.78%, according to the ministry's website.