Cases of hepatitis in children have increased as a further 43 illnesses were confirmed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today.
05.04.2022 - 13:31 / dailyrecord.co.uk
A new sub-variant of Omicron has been found in the UK as scientists work hard to learn more about it.
Several coronavirus variants have been discovered throughout the pandemic with many becoming the dominant strain, including Delta and Omicron.
Now a mutant strain - known as Omicron XE - which is a combination of the original Omicron and Stealth Omicron has been discovered in the UK.
It comes as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that 4.9 million people in the UK were infected with Covid-19 as of last weekend - a record high during the pandemic.
Experts say the surge could be down to restrictions easing coupled with the rise of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, known as Stealth Omicron.
A report released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that a total of 763 cases of Omicron XE have been reported across the UK as of March 22.
A total of 637 of these XE cases were detected in England. The bulk of the cases are said to be in the east of England, south east of England and London.
Here's everything you need to know about Omicron XE and if there are any new symptoms.
XE is said to be a ‘recombinant’ of both the original Omicron strain and the so-called ‘stealth Omicron’, or BA.2.
Experts are still carrying out research to confirm whether XE is more transmissible than BA.2.
There is so far no evidence to suggest that XE infections result in more severe symptoms than previous strains of the virus.
Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor at UKHSA, told The Sun : “As with other kinds of variant, most will die off relatively quickly.
“This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate and we cannot confirm yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage.
“So far there is not enough evidence to
Cases of hepatitis in children have increased as a further 43 illnesses were confirmed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today.
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Health officials are investigating 74 cases of hepatitis among children under the age of 10 across the UK as they urge parents to be alert to the signs of the illness. All of the youngsters were admitted to hospital where medics picked up the cases. The UK Health Security Agency said it is examining 49 cases in England, 13 in Scotland and 12 across both Wales and Northern Ireland, all of which have occurred since January.
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Public Heath Scotland is investigating the cause of a small number of cases of hepatitis in young children across the central belt of Scotland, including in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
As universal testing ended throughout the weekend, the NHS has updated its list of official Covid symptoms.
A new Covid variant has been found in the UK, experts have confirmed. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was looking at the XE variant, which is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains.
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The CDC announced this week that the BA.2 Omicron variant, which is reportedly 30% more transmissible than the original BA.1 Omicron strain — has become dominant among new cases sequenced in the United States. That’s a startling rise for a variant that was less than 1% of all sequences as recently as January. But, just as Americans are hearing about BA.2, there’s already a newer, even more transmissible variant on the rise.