(Montreal) The new subvariant XBB.1.5, “the most transmissible that has been detected so far”, now represents 2.4% of new cases in Quebec. It was reportedly first detected in late November in the province, but it was during the holiday break that it began to make its presence felt more.
“What worries me is that two weeks ago XBB.1.5 was at 0.5%. Two weeks later, it increased by a factor of five,” says Dr.r Donald Vinh, infectious disease specialist and microbiologist at the McGill University Health Center.
XBB.1.5, from the same family as Omicron, is the “most transmissible subvariant that has been detected so far”, warned this week the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been identified so far in 38 countries, with the majority of cases being in the United States.
Indeed, the XBB.1.5 variant currently accounts for 27.6% of reported cases in our southern neighbors, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It accounted for only 2.3% of cases at the start of December.
Quebec is not immune to such an upward trend, says the Dr Vinh. “We have to watch what’s happening in the United States to know what’s going to happen in Canada,” he said.
More transmissible
This worrying new variant is spreading rapidly due to mutations that give it a good ability to attach to cells and reproduce easily, explains Dr.D Inès Levade, scientific advisor specialized in the Laboratoire de santé publique du Québec and coordinator of the Committee of experts on the genomic monitoring of SARS-CoV-2.
This variant also appears capable of bypassing immunity conferred by vaccines or previous infections, says Dr.r Vinh. Furthermore, monoclonal antibodies seem ineffective in neutralizing it, he says.
According to the first data, a booster dose with a bivalent vaccine would however make it possible to produce neutralizing antibodies, indicates the Dr Vinh, who invites Quebecers to get such a booster dose if they have not yet done so.
Good news: there is no data indicating whether the variant causes infections more or less severe, “but what we see so far, it would not be in the direction of a variant that would cause symptoms more severe in the event of infection”, indicates the DD Leavening.
“We are not worried”
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, claims to have discussed the situation of the XBB.1.5 subvariant on Tuesday with the national director of public health, the Dr Luc Boileau. “There are situations in certain places where this famous variant is very worrying, like in New York. […] So far, the Dr Boileau tells us that we are not worried, but for sure we will follow it closely because we have seen it: when it happens, it happens quickly, ”he said.
“I don’t want to be overly optimistic or pessimistic. I just want to be realistic. For those who are not yet vaccinated: go and get vaccinated,” he added.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday praised the “radical transparency” of the United States in its fight against the XBB.1.5 subvariant. The WHO believes that this subvariant could “lead to an increase in the incidence of cases”, but stresses that it is forced to base itself almost solely on the situation in the United States.
In addition, the WHO regrets the lack of sequencing in the world, which makes it possible to detect new sub-variants quickly. The DD Levade maintains, however, that Quebec provides good oversight.
Every week, the Quebec Public Health Laboratory selects 600 samples of positive tests for COVID-19 across the province on which sequencing is carried out. “It allows us to have an idea [des variants] which circulates at the level of Quebec”, explains the DD Leavening.
Rise in COVID-19 cases
COVID-19 continues to weigh on the health network. Quebec counted 2,095 people hospitalized on Wednesday who tested positive, up 2% over one week. Of these, 716 patients were hospitalized directly due to their COVID-19 infection, the others having been admitted for another reason.
The six deaths reported on Wednesday bring the daily average calculated over seven days to nine. Thus, a total of 17,774 Quebecers have succumbed to COVID-19 over the past three years.
The trend in the current spread of the pandemic is more difficult to read at the start of the year. The government restricted access to PCR testing in December, which caused the number of officially detected cases to drop. However, the positivity rate remains high, a sign that COVID-19 has not disappeared.
Moreover, weekly polls conducted by the National Institute of Public Health show that approximately 30,000 Quebecers continue to be infected every day. This still represents a drop from the peak of 36,000 infections per day.
With Fanny Lévesque and Pierre-André Normandin, The Press, and Agence France-Presse