The XBB.1.5 subvariant, which spread like wildfire in the United States, is beginning to spread in Quebec. It represented 2.4% of cases between December 25 and 31, according to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) which published new data on Wednesday. Twenty cases have been identified.
Inès Levade, clinical specialist in medical biology at the Quebec Public Health Laboratory at the INSPQ, expects this percentage to increase. “The question is more, will it increase as quickly as in the United States? ” she says.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 28% of COVID-19 cases detected last week were attributable to XBB.1.5. The CDC has revised down its estimate of 40%, first reported in the media following the collection of new data. “In the northeastern United States, it has reached a little over 70%,” adds Inès Levade.
It remains to be seen whether the XBB.1.5 will supplant the variants already present in Quebec. During the holidays, BQ.1.1 dominated (65% of infections). “For several months, we have been dealing with a kind of soup of variants, indicates Inès Levade. We are quite careful about predictions, about what we observe in another country and if it can happen here. You can never really be sure. »
She cites as an example the first line of XBB which “took over” in other countries, but which never took root in Quebec. XBB remained below 1% of cases in the province.
However, the INSPQ is closely monitoring XBB.1.5, the first case of which was detected towards the end of November. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the subvariant – which is part of the Omicron family – is the most contagious to date.
It combines mutations that would give it “a great ability to evade our antibodies, the first line of defense of the immune system” as well as a “greater ability to bind to the receptor of the cells it infects”, specifies Inès Levade. .
“He doesn’t seem any more virulent,” she continues. It doesn’t seem to trigger a more severe disease. Despite this, if it is transmitted much more, it is still annoying, in the sense that we would have more cases and therefore potentially more hospitalizations. »
Quebec reported 698 new cases and 6 new deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday. Authorities count 2,095 hospitalizations, including 716 due to COVID-19, a decrease of 42 from the previous day. In intensive care, the number of patients is down 5 compared to Tuesday: 48 people are there, including 25 due to COVID-19.
In the public health network, 2,553 workers are absent for reasons related to COVID, such as isolation or preventive withdrawal.
Further details will follow.