Experts warn that, unlike the flu, coronavirus spreads in hot weather.
A new variant of COVID-19 called Stratus (XFG and XFG.3) is spreading in the UK, accounting for 30% of cases in the country.
The Independent writes about this.
An unusual symptom of infection with this mutation is a pronounced hoarseness in the voice reported by patients.
Epidemiologists warn that hoarseness is a rare but noticeable symptom of Stratus. A “raspy, raspy voice” may be a sign of infection, although the main symptoms (cough, fever, fatigue) remain characteristic.
British experts believe this strain does not cause more severe disease and currently used vaccines should remain effective against symptoms, including severe ones.
Research shows that Stratus is spreading rapidly, growing from 7.4% to 22.7% of the world's population in one month. Current data does not indicate more severe disease or increased mortality, although there are certain mutations that may help the virus evade immunity.
“Unlike other variants, Stratus has certain mutations in the spike protein that may help it evade antibodies produced by previous infections or vaccinations,” says Dr Kayvaan Khan, a Harley Street GP and founder of the Hannah London Clinic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Stratus as a “variant under monitoring.”
It has been more than five years since the WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020. According to the organization, the virus has infected more than 777 million people worldwide, directly killing 7 million, and the total number of deaths from any cause related to the virus has reached a staggering 15 million.
On December 8, 2020, 90-year-old British Margaret Keenan became the first person in the West to be vaccinated. Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó and American immunologist Drew Weissman, who developed the vaccine, received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this.
The CIA believes the coronavirus outbreak is “more likely” to have originated from a leak in a Chinese lab than to have spread from animals.
There is no consensus on the cause of the covid pandemic.
There are those who support the “natural origin” theory – the virus spread among people due to animals, and not due to experiments by scientists or a laboratory.
The “lab leak” theory is particularly strongly rejected by scientists, who claim that there is no solid evidence to support it.
China had previously ruled out the possibility of a “lab leak” as “political manipulation by Washington.
At the same time, the previously highly controversial theory is now finding more support among intelligence agencies.
In 2023, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News that his agency assessed that “the spread of the (coronavirus) pandemic most likely resulted from a lab incident.”
