With inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev

The XE recombinant variant

A new recombinant strain of the Omicron variant, called XE, has been detected in the United Kingdom. It combines the BA.1 and the BA.2 lineage of the Omicron variant. About 763 samples of XE have been identified in the UK (as of March 22); few cases have been also reported in China and Thailand. According to the WHO, it was first detected in the UK on 19th January. XE has a community growth rate advantage of ~10% as compared to BA.2. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is examining three recombinant variants, XF, XE and XD. 38 cases of XF (recombinants of Delta and Omicron BA.1)  have been identified in the UK; XD is not yet detected in the UK… (Source: Medscape, April 5, 2022)

FDA rescinds authorization of sotrovimab for BA.2 Omicron cases

The monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab is not authorized now to treat Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron BA.2 subvariant citing its lack of effectiveness against the BA.2 subvariant, stated the FDA in an update to the emergency use authorization since BA.2 is becoming the dominant strain in the US…(Source: US FDA,  April 5, 2022)

Unvaccinated ambulatory Covid patients at high risk of venous thromboembolism 

Ambulatory patients with mild Covid-19 are at 20-times higher risk of developing incident venous thromboembolism (VTE) within 30 days of their confirmatory RT PCR test. Unvaccinated persons were at considerably higher risk than the fully vaccinated persons. Older age, male sex, and obesity were the other risk factors for Covid-related VTE. Compared with noncarriers, carriers of inherited thrombophilia were at a 2-folds higher risk of VTE… (Source: Medscape, April 7, 2022)

Myriad presentations of Covid-19

The journal BMC Endocrine Disorders has described the case of a 13-year-old boy, weighing 69 kg, with Covid-19 with multisystemic involvement, including the endocrine, renal, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and nervous systems, due to the infection managed by a multidisciplinary team of doctors. The child had had no such problems earlier but developed them after he acquired Covid-19. In this patient, Covid-19 was associated with new-onset diabetes mellitus, severe diabetic ketoacidosis, acute renal failure, nausea-vomiting and upper gastrointestinal bleeding, resistant hypertension and reduced level of consciousness. The authors say, “practitioners should be more careful in order to avoid missing the chimeric features of COVID-19 infection.” (Source: BMC Endocrine Disorders, April 5, 2022)

Eye, a possible route of Covid-19 transmission? 

A survey of more than 55,000 volunteers of the Virus Watch cohort study in England and Wales on the use of glasses and contact lenses has shown a 15% reduction in the risk of Covid-19 among those who always wore glasses compared to those who never wore glasses. Nearly 23% of those who never used glasses had COVID-19 versus 15.6% of those who always wore glasses. But this protective effect of glasses was reduced in those who said that glasses interfered with use of face masks. No such protective effect was seen in people who used contact lenses… (Source: medRxiv, April 4, 2022)