"XEC": What Is It? Everything You Should Know About The Most Recent COVID-19 Variant

Though it hasn't yet taken the lead, a new COVID-19 variant has just entered the picture, and experts believe that XEC will be the next significant variant to keep an eye on.

There has been a "summer of COVID" in 2024. The virus was discovered during a number of this year's major athletic events, such as the Tour de France and the Olympics in Paris, and in recent weeks, the number of cases in the US has been steadily rising.

Although SARS-CoV-2 is not a strictly seasonal virus, as winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, many people will be monitoring COVID statistics as well as the plethora of other infections that tend to spike at this time of year (hey flu, it's been a long). So, what’s new in COVID-land?

As it happens, KP.3.1.1, a member of the KP.3 lineage, is still the dominant variety in the US, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to gather comprehensive data. As of the time of writing, the most recent data indicated that 52.7 percent of positive COVID tests were caused by it.

This is a fast review of the COVID-19 virus family tree, which is getting a soap opera complex. The KP.3 variants become apparent as members of the FLiRT variants group, which is itself derived from JN.1. First, there was the original KP.3, which gained popularity before the other FLiRT versions and was dubbed FLuQE. After a deletion was discovered in the original FLuQE variation, KP.3.1.1—dubbed deFLuQE by some—was created.

Since all of these are subvariants of the original Omicron lineage and are not sufficiently distant to merit a new alphabetical designation, we are still on Omicron, which is why we haven't gotten a new Greek letter for a long.

Since KP.3.1.1 has a mutation that renders it very immune-invasive, its dominance is unlikely to change anytime soon. However, specialists are becoming interested in a new variation that is appearing throughout Europe. It is known as XEC, and it was purportedly discovered for the first time in Germany back in June before progressively spreading to many other nations.

Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told the Los Angeles Times that "XEC is taking charge."

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, continued, "We'll have to watch - because the overall info on it is not super robust now - but I would imagine over the next couple of weeks, particularly if it starts to creep up higher and higher, we will be hearing a little bit more about it."

Vice President of Science, Medicine, and Public Health Dr. Andrea Garcia acknowledged that XEC is a company to keep an eye on in a recent update for the American Medical Association.

"I believe that another subvariant to watch out for, and we know that scientists and doctors are watching this as well, is XEC, which may surpass KP.3.1.1 in the upcoming weeks," Dr. Garcia stated.

The good news is that, compared to the early stages of the pandemic, there is a far lower chance of developing a serious illness and passing away from these most recent varieties. This is partly because of immunity from prior infections and vaccinations.

The current message about preventing a severe case of COVID-19 is to stay up to date with your vaccinations. Recently, COVID-19 injections were modified to better match the circulating variations. This winter, free test kits will be distributed to US families once more to aid with the perennial conundrum of the season: is it a cold or is it COVID?

Regarding the symptoms of the most recent variations, the CDC's list of indicators to look out for is still the same and includes fever, sore throat, coughing, and congestion.