Covid XE case: Dr Gagandeep Kang says India’s experience last year left behind hybrid immunity
New Delhi:
India’s total number of COVID-19 infections remains low, although the number of cases has increased in the last week in several cities. Delhi, for example, is reporting an increase COVID-19 cases in children in schoolThat’s a worrying sign.
India’s top biomedical scientist Dr Gagandeep Kang said they did not know if the XE variant was driving the increase in cases. “We don’t necessarily know that all the cases that are being reported are of the XE variant unless we sort them all out,” Dr Kang told NDTV today. “…Only when we have all the pieces of the picture can we interpret the data. People’s data alone is not enough,” she said.
Regarding what the world knows about the XE variant, Dr. Kang said, “XE is a derivative of Omicron. As far as we know about Omicron, it is a virus that replicates more in the upper respiratory tract. in the lower respiratory tract, so the symptoms you would expect to see are upper and upper respiratory tract infections, fever, restlessness, but not the kind of severe illness that sends people to the hospital sooner.”
“I think it’s often wrong to focus on symptoms and expect symptoms to tell us which variant we have, even though it’s quite often highlighted in the media. What you really need is clinical demographic information in addition to sequence data, says Dr. Kang.
She said the gradual increase in cases could not yet be called the start of a fourth wave. “That would be stressful,” said Dr. Kang, adding that people should prepare for reinfection, whether they were previously infected or vaccinated.
Dr Kang said India’s experience last year has left a kind of hybrid immunity complemented by vaccination. “We’ve got pretty good protection against a bunch of different viruses,” she said. This was clearly demonstrated in the Omicron wave.
She added that there is no scientific basis for a nine-month gap between the second dose and the booster dose.
Dr. Kang points out that parents shouldn’t worry too much as schools are already open.
“I think if you have to get a Covid infection the best time to get it is when you’re a healthy child. Basically, infected kids don’t show symptoms in the majority.. Recent serological surveys show that 80 children per infected child have been infected. We should not expect protection from infection. As the virus evolves, it will continue to evolve. ways that allow it to infect us over and over again… This is especially true for children.
“So the data that parents should be looking at is really not about cases, or about the number of children found to have the infection, or about children who already have mild symptoms. It’s real. it has to be among the infected children how many wounds, and we will see that those numbers are very few.
“All the data we have in India shows that children who need to be hospitalized have comorbidities of one kind or another,” Dr. Kang told NDTV, adding emergency vaccinations. provided to children under 12 years of age with comorbidities.
Dr Kang said all this data indicates that shutting down educational institutions in a state of panic would not be an ideal move.
