A message on Covid XBB variant is doing rounds on WhatsApp. It is fake and misleading. While an XBB variant does exist, claims in the message are misleading. Here's all you need to know about XBB
The fake message doing rounds on WhatsApp claimed Covid XBB variant is deadly and hard to detect. It also claimed symptoms do not include cough or fever
The fake WhatsApp message also claimed that Covid-Omicron XBB is five times more virulent than Delta, which was behind the second wave in India
Health Ministry warned against the message circulating in some Whatsapp groups regarding the XBB variant, calling it FAKE and MISLEADING
XBB variant is a sublineage of Omicron. It is dominant in Singapore. In a statement on October 22, WHO said XBB has a global prevalence of 1.3 per cent and it has been detected in 35 countries
WHO said that current data does not suggest any substantial differences in disease severity for XBB infections. Early evidence, however, pointed to a higher reinfection risk as compared to other sublineages
There is no data to support escape from immune responses induced by other Omicron lineages, WHO said in a statement on October 22
WHO also said that whether the increased immune escape of XBB is sufficient to drive new infection waves appears to depend on the regional immune landscape
XBB Covid variant has been found to be evasive in individuals who have received the Sinovac vaccine, as per a study published by the medical journal Lancet
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Story by: Saurabh Sharma
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