The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated a new strain of Covid-19 circulating in the UK as a variant of interest. However, the WHO has assessed the public health risk to be low.
Referred to as EG.5 or “Eris,” this variant is connected to an Omicron subvariant known as XBB.1.9.2. It is increasing in prevalence worldwide, affecting countries such as the UK, China, and the US.
Despite this, the WHO has indicated that the variant does not pose a significant threat. The agency stated, “Based on the available evidence, the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level,” adding that the risk seems comparable to other circulating variants of interest.
The WHO further emphasized that, to date, no changes in disease severity have been reported regarding EG.5. Although the variant has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there is no evidence of heightened disease severity.
Professor Christina Pagel from University College London explained that while the variant is spreading more widely and appears better at evading the immune system, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illness. She expects it to lead to a surge in cases and related problems like increased hospitalizations and long Covid, but no worse than previous waves this year.
Prof Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, warned that although the prevalence of the variant is increasing slowly in the UK, its infectivity and ability to evade antibodies could lead to a more rapid rise in cases when schools reopen and people return to work and university after the summer.
Prof John Edmunds, an infectious diseases expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, remarked that the emergence of successive waves of Omicron sub-variants has been the pattern for the last 18 months.
The WHO has recommended several actions for member states to prioritize in order to better understand the variant’s ability to escape antibodies and its severity. This includes monitoring changes in indicators of severity.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported that EG.5 or, more specifically, its subvariant EG5.1, accounts for approximately 15% of sequenced Covid-19 cases in England.
Dr. Meera Chand, the deputy director of UKHSA, stated that the emergence of new variants is not unexpected. The UKHSA will continue to analyze available data on Sars-CoV-2 variants in the UK and worldwide, monitoring EG.5.1 through routine surveillance processes.
Chand emphasized the importance of vaccination as the best defense against future waves of Covid-19, urging people to receive all eligible doses as soon as possible.