Even the vaccine will not be able to stop XBB.1.5 variant: spreads infection 104 times faster; Know the answers to 8 questions from experts

A new sub-variant of Corona XBB.1.5 has been found in America. This is said to be the fastest-spreading variant ever. Its speed is 104 times faster than the earlier variant.

What is this new variant of Corona, how was it formed and how likely is it to spread in India? Bhaskar has asked Professor Ramshankar Upadhyay of Harvard Medical School to answer 8 such questions. Let us now know the answers to all the questions related to the super variant….

Question- 1: What is the new variant of Corona found in America?

Answer: The new variant of Corona found in America is named XBB.1.5. Actually, it is made from the reunion of two variants of Corona. Now know the whole process of making this variant…

When two corona variants named BJ1 and BM1.1.1 met together, the DNA ie the genetic material of both of them got combined. This led to XBB. Then the XBB variant mutated and became XBB1.

After this, once again G2502V mutation occurred in XBB1, after which it became XBB.1.5 variant.

Question- 2: How does the new variant make our body its victim?

Answer: After entering our body, this virus first affects the protein (HACE receptor) of the cell. This is the first stage of spreading the infection inside the body. The capacity of this virus to stick to the cell is more than the rest of the variants. This is the reason that it infects more and more people.

Being a sub-variant of Omicron, it affects more on the upper part of our chest but like Delta, it does not directly affect the lungs. As long as this happens, this variant will not pose a major threat to us. However, there will be a need to be careful about this.

Question- 3: How dangerous is the new variant of Corona compared to other variants and how?

Answer: This variant is so dangerous that it spreads infection in our body by neutralizing the vaccination and naturally made antibodies. Not only this, this infection spreads in our body 104 times faster than all the variants till now. So far we do not have any such vaccine or immunity that can prevent infection with this virus.

Question- 4: How effective will the vaccine be on this variant?

Answer: All the vaccines made in the world have only 30 to 40 percent ability to protect against coronavirus infection. Most of the vaccine was made to protect people from the first variant alphavirus of the corona, but since then the coronavirus has changed its form many times. However, some vaccines have been updated to protect against the BA5 subvariant. Despite this, as new variants are coming out, the protection index of these vaccines i.e. the capacity to give protection is decreasing.

Question- 5: What will be the effect of this variant on India?

Answer: The new variant in India will not be able to wreak havoc like the second wave coming from the delta variant. The reason for this is that the first dose of vaccination has been given to about 95 percent of people in India. Apart from this, 90 percent have got double-dose vaccination. In such a situation, even if the infection spreads, the rate of hospitalization will be less.

Apart from this, the booster dose is slightly less but India is ready to deal with the new variant due to herd immunity, community immunity, and vaccine immunity.

Question- 6: What should India do to avoid infection of the new variant?

Answer: These 4 steps should be followed immediately to stop this new variant from spreading in India…

Right now India has ordered to test people coming from 6 countries by taking 2 percent random samples. Sampling should be increased to 10 percent.

There should also be genome sequencing of the samples coming positive.

This sampling should not be limited to people coming from only 6 countries, but RT-PCR tests should be done for people coming from all countries.

By making people aware, and by giving them medical facilities at the right time, we can win in dealing with this epidemic.

Apart from this, the expert said that when random sampling was done in the US on flights coming from China, it was found that on average 38 percent to 52 percent of people were found infected. In such a situation, in this era of the global world, instead of any one country, there is a need to keep an eye on the people coming from all the countries.

Question- 7: Can corona be stopped only by vaccine or booster dose?

Answer: Coronavirus will never end. We have to learn to live with it. A new vaccine or booster dose with every new variant is not the solution as it creates hyper immunity in the body.

Hyper immunity is more dangerous for the human body than infection. The best is natural immunity, which is present in our body for a long time. It is much better than the immunity obtained from the booster dose. A booster dose is the only solution for those who are old or suffering from some serious illness.

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