Scientists Warn: Most Infectious Covid Strain Yet Is Now Dominating

Experts warn that a new Covid version known as “Stratus” may lead to a surge in new infections after it has risen to prominence in the UK.

Because of changes that enable it to elude the immune system, Stratus—scientifically known as XFG—is believed to be more contagious than earlier Covid strains.

According to data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Stratus is now the most common strain of COVID-19 in England.

Three weeks later, in mid-June, the variation accounted for about 40% of all Covid cases, up from roughly 10% in May.

A “recombinant” or Frankenstein strain, Stratus is a descendant of the already extremely virulent Omicron.

This indicates that it developed as a new hybrid variation when an individual contracted two Covid strains simultaneously.

Warwick University virologist Professor Lawrence Young told MailOnline that the original XFG strain and its spin-off, XFG.3, are both “rapidly spreading.”

“The increased competitiveness of XFG and XFG.3 is likely due to new spike mutations which make these variants more able to evade the immune response,” he said.

“Given that immunity to Covid is waning in the population due to a decline in uptake of the spring booster jab and the reduction of Covid infections in recent months, more people will be susceptible to infection with XFG and XFG.3.”

“This could lead to a new wave of infection but it’s difficult to predict the extent of this wave.”

He did, however, note that there is presently no proof that stratus causes more serious illness and that receiving the Covid vaccine is “very likely” to provide protection against hospitalisation and severe sickness.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) designated the strain as a “variant under monitoring” barely one week prior to Stratus’ ascent.

Due to the variant’s increasing dissemination in several nations and possible public health consequences, health agencies worldwide have been asked to assist in tracking it.

Although the WHO classified the overall danger of Stratus as “low,” it did note that research suggested the variety had a notable growth advantage over other strains, currently accounting for 22% of infections worldwide.

In recent weeks, Nimbus, another novel Covid variation that is also predicted to cause a surge in new infections, has also skyrocketed.

According to UKHSA data, the strain increased from just 2% of cases in April to 17% in June.

Nonetheless, compared to recent weeks, the total number of Covid cases is down.

In the week ending June 29, just 5.4% of Covid tests examined by UKHSA tested positive for the virus.

This represents a minor decline from the 7% of tests that tested positive the week before, which was the highest positivity rate this year.

Compared to earlier strains, neither Nimbus nor Stratus are believed to produce novel symptoms.

Nonetheless, medical professionals have cautioned that Nimbus might infect anyone with a “razor blade” throat.

Dr Michael Gregory, regional medical Director for NHS England in the North West recently said, “The variant looks to be spreading rapidly within communities, with top symptoms being a “razor blade” sore throat and swollen neck glands.” 

However, any Covid infection can still be fatal, particularly for more susceptible populations like the elderly or people with weakened immune systems.