The Ministry of Health confirmed this Thursday (7) the first case of Covid-19 caused by the subvariant XE, a hybrid of two strains of the omicron, BA.1 and BA.2.
The case was notified by the Butantan Institute to the Cievs network (Center for Strategic Information on Health Surveillance), which brings together the country’s surveillance system, on Wednesday (6).
He is a 39-year-old man who lives in the city of São Paulo. He is fully vaccinated and has been treated at home.
According to the São Paulo State Health Department, the man had only mild symptoms. The diagnosis was confirmed in a PCR scan on March 7. “The man remains under monitoring by the state and municipal surveillance of São Paulo”, says, in a note, the secretary.
The first detected case of the XE subvariant was on January 19 this year in the United Kingdom. According to the international platform Gisaid, which gathers genomic data from several countries, so far there are 473 cases in the world, three of which are registered in North America and 470 in Europe.
“The ministry maintains constant monitoring of the epidemiological scenario of Covid-19 and reinforces the importance of the complete vaccination schedule to guarantee maximum protection against the virus and prevent the advancement of new variants in the country”, said the Ministry of Health, in a note.
In Brazil, there have been cases of the BA.2 lineage of the ômicron variant since February this year. As viruses mutate into new variants, they sometimes split or branch into sub-lineages. The most common so far of the omicron variant is the BA.1 lineage.
In Brazil, the first case of the ômicron variant was announced on November 30 of last year. The first death was confirmed on January 6 by the Health Department of the city of Aparecida de Goiânia, in the metropolitan region of Goiás.
The 68-year-old patient was hypertensive and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the folder, he had received three doses of vaccine against Covid-19: two in the primary scheme and one as a booster.
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