• Source:JND
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New Covid Variant Eris: Also known as EG.5, the new covid variant Eris has been declared a WHO variant of interest and the health organisation has urged the countries to monitor the cases and symptoms of this new variant. 

“The EG.5 variant originally emerged in November 2021. The WHO said at this time it does not seem to pose more of a threat to public health than other variants and that there is no evidence of an increase in disease severity directly associated with EG.5. As of now, EG.5 has been detected in more than 50 countries and accounts for 17% of the total COVID cases in the US, reported E-Times. In May, the WHO said that Covid-19 was now “an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

According to WHO, Eris has been found in 51 countries, including China, the US, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, France, Portugal and Spain.

According to Dr. Viswesvaran Balasubramanian, Consultant Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad, the EG.5.1 variant was found to have a growth advantage of 20.5% over other strains and the World Health Organization has already added EG.5.1 to the list of monitored variants, signalling global concern.

Symptoms Of Eris

“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” the WHO said in a risk evaluation published Wednesday. The symptoms of the new Covid variant Eris are reported to be runny nose, sneezing, cough, fever, and fatigue among others. 

What Is The Transmission Rate Of Eris? 

“While concurrent increases in the proportion of EG.5 and COVID-19 hospitalizations (lower than previous waves) have been observed in countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, no associations have been made between these hospitalizations and EG.5. However, due to its growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, EG.5 may cause a rise in case incidence and become dominant in some countries or even globally,” the WHO says.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EG.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for 17.3% of cases as of the week ended August 5.

Dr Balasubramanian the strain is found to be associated with a slight increase in hospital admission rates across most age groups, particularly among the elderly, however the overall admission levels remain extremely low. Data regarding increase in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions are being monitored.