【Journalist survey】XBB strain popular in the United States has not yet shown more harmful

　　[Global Times special correspondent in the United States Zhang Sisi Global Times reporter Fan Anqi Zhao Juezhen] Editor’s note: The China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released information on the existence of the XBB evolutionary branch of the Omicron mutant strain detected in my country. "The possibility of large-scale epidemics caused by XBB series variants (including XBB.1.5) is low."

XBB series mutant strains were first discovered in India in August 2022, and then became popular in the United States, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries.

Especially recently, XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly in the United States.

Global Times reporters conducted investigations and interviews on the actual spread of the XBB mutant strain in the United States and related issues.

White House health officials reminded the public, "Don't rush to panic about XBB.1.5."

In the New England region of the United States most affected by XBB.1.5, local people live as usual, and some government departments and schools emphasize personal protective measures such as wearing masks.

American public opinion and many foreign experts believe that XBB is more transmissible, but there is no evidence that it will cause more serious diseases than other mutant strains.

40% of infection cases are caused by XBB.1.5

　　According to data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of last year and early this year, about 40% of the current cases of new coronavirus infection in the United States are caused by the highly contagious XBB.1.5. The main symptoms include dyspnea, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, and fatigue. and fever etc.

According to related reports, there is no evidence that XBB.1.5 is more likely to cause severe diarrhea or other clinical manifestations of the gastrointestinal tract than other strains.

Therefore, people do not have to follow suit and hoard relevant medicines.

　　Barbara Mahon, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coronavirus and other respiratory viruses, said in an interview with ABC recently that there is no indication that XBB.1.5 will cause more severe disease than any other variant.

　　The US "Capitol Hill" published an article titled "White House Health Officials Warn Not to Panic About XBB.

A study published on social media by a White House COVID-19 response coordinator showed that the number of cases caused by XBB.1.5 increased from 4% to 40% within a few weeks. Strong immune escape ability.

But he also said, "It is not clear whether XBB.1.5 is more dangerous than previous variants."

　　For the American people who have experienced wave after wave of epidemics, the panic brought about by XBB is indeed very limited.

Someone responded to the information released by the White House's new crown epidemic response coordinator and said: "It's also breaking news, but now it's 2023, and no one will pay that much attention to it!"

Bostonians: Every winter the number of patients increases

　　The New England region of the northeastern United States is more affected by XBB.1.5 - the mutant strain has recently accounted for more than 50% of the cases, and the peak reached 75%.

New England includes Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

According to data released by the Massachusetts state government a few days ago, since mid-November last year, there has been a small growth peak in the number of people infected with the new coronavirus.

As of December 27 last year, the proportion of positive nucleic acid tests rose straight from 5.56% on November 13 to 11.17%.

The number of infections has doubled during this period, from an average of more than 600 cases per day in mid-November last year to about 1,300 around Christmas. The number of hospital admissions averaged 547 at the end of November and 987 at the end of December. people.

　　Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is the largest city in New England and the economic and cultural center of the region.

A family member of the "Global Times" special correspondent in the United States visited a medical center in Boston at the beginning of the year. When he arrived at the hospital at 9 a.m. at the scheduled time, he found that there were indeed many more people waiting to see the doctor than usual.

However, the local people think: "Every winter, the number of patients in the hospital will increase, and there must be more people infected with the new coronavirus recently, but we have not seen or heard news of overloading of hospitals."

　　Barbara Mahon of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said in an interview with the media that although the overall number of hospitalizations of confirmed patients with new coronaviruses across the United States has increased, the number of hospitalizations in the northeastern states with the highest proportion of XBB.1.5 infections has not. Obvious anomalies occur.

As for the reason why New England became the "key care object" of XBB, neither the American media nor relevant experts gave an answer.

　　According to the Global Times reporter's observation, the New England region recently called on people to take personal protection in crowded places.

On January 3, WCVB, a local channel in Massachusetts, reported that Boston and at least two other municipalities required students, teachers and staff to wear masks when returning to school after the winter vacation, and emphasized that wearing masks "is to prevent the new crown, flu and Transmission of other respiratory viruses".

　　In addition to schools, some towns in New England have also issued "non-mandatory recommendations for wearing masks."

On January 4, Eastern Time, the city of Springfield in western Massachusetts issued a statement advising people to wear masks, especially those with underlying diseases and the elderly.

The statement said the recommendation was made "out of an abundance of caution and based on XBB1.5 reports from states and counties".

British experts: There is no need to specifically restrict American travelers

　　According to related reports, XBB.1.5, which attracted people's attention at the beginning of the new year, was first discovered in the United States in October last year and spread to the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries.

Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter that XBB. It is spreading rapidly in the United States.

In his opinion, as of now, the XBB series variant strain does not seem to cause more serious diseases, but if it leads to a large number of cases in the future, it may cause problems for the health systems of various countries.

Therefore, what needs to be done now is to pay close attention to this mutant strain.

　　Woolhouse said the XBB variants had spread to about 70 countries and territories before they received special attention, so there was no need to impose special restrictions on travelers from the United States.

　　Kaixiong Kitasato, a virologist at the National Nagasaki University of Japan, told the Global Times reporter that he is more concerned about the strong immune escape ability of XBB. The most powerful variant of the new crown in existence."

He believes that, generally speaking, the widespread spread of the virus will easily lead to the emergence of new mutant strains, but the new coronavirus strains currently circulating in China are mainly BA.5.2 and BF.7 among the Omicron mutant strains that are popular abroad.

　　(Source: Global Times)