Last week, the World Health Organisation, WHO, categorised the EG.5 strain of the COVID-19 virus as a ‘variant of concern’.
The variant was first reported in February 2023 and later designated as a variant under monitoring in July.
WHO had earlier designated EG.5 and its sub-lineages as variants of interest.
Experts say COVID-19 won’t go away. The EG.5 variant is a recent variant that should be of concern. A new variant of concern, the EG.5 variant, is gaining momentum.
The EG.5.1 subgroup of the EG.5 variety, a sub-variant of Omicron, has a strain that has earned the unofficial moniker “Eris.” In comparison to other variations and subvariants, experts claim that EG.5 is one of the fastest-growing subvariants globally (possibly because of a mutation that may be more infectious).
What it is
EG.5 is a sub-variant of omicron and is considered to be a descendant of the XBB lineage of the COVID-19 virus.
How contagious is it?
Judging by the higher rates of people who have this variant, it might be a bit more contagious than previous strains, but it’s hard to say definitively.
Should you be concerned?
The World Health Organization (WHO) just dubbed EG.5 a variant of interest. It does not seem all that different from the current circulating variants. There has not been an increase in the severity of infection, and it does seem more infectious, even if it is becoming dominant.
How can you distinguish EG.5 from other variants?
The answer is that EG.5 is not distinguishable clinically from any other variant because it looks and feels very similar to other Omicron and Omicron subvariant infections.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of the EG.5 variant do not appear to differ from previous strains.
They include sore throats, runny noses, coughs, upper respiratory infection symptoms, and low-grade fevers.
Is there a vaccine?
There is not a specific vaccine targeting the sub-variant; current vaccines will still prevent severe disease from any variant.
Does EG.5 increase the risk of long-term COVID?
There is no specific data as to which people or which variants are more or less likely to be associated with long-term COVID.
However, what we do have is interesting data that suggests that vaccination lowers the risk of long-term COVID, even among those who get COVID after vaccination.
Who is at risk?
Everyone is at risk because the COVID-19 virus is still in circulation in every country across the world.
The bottom line
There will continue to be new variants arising-that’s how virus evolution works-but they are not likely to pose major problems like prior variants because of the level of immunity in the population that guards against severe disease.
Like all other COVID strains, they are highly infectious, so anyone tested and diagnosed to have COVID, should be isolated. Vaccination remains a feasible protection, so get vaccinated.
Source | Vanguard
