Bhubaneswar: While social media users are circulating the claim that COVID-19 Omicron XBB variant is five times more “toxic” and has a higher mortality rate than the Delta variant, there is no evidence to support this, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Health, reported Reuters.
According to a fact check by Reuters, the World Health Organisation (WHO) also says current data does not suggest XBB is more deadly than Omicron, which itself is less lethal than Delta.
XBB, a hybrid between two descendants of the BA.2 version of Omicron has led to a surge in hospitalizations in Singapore. There is so far no evidence of significant differences in its virulence compared with its ‘parent’ lineage.
However, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said that while early analysis suggests the variant is more transmissible than earlier versions of Omicron, it also appears to cause less severe disease.
A World Health Organisation press release on XBB states: “While further studies are needed, the current data do not suggest there are substantial differences in disease severity for XBB infections. There is, however, early evidence pointing at a higher reinfection risk, as compared to other circulating Omicron sublineages.”
