Dr. Jha warns latest XBB subvariant of COVID-19 is more contagious; urges people to get bivalent booster

Jha said that for people who were infected before July or whose last booster came before the bivalent update in September, “Your protection against an XBB.1.5 infection is probably not that great.”

So get the bivalent jab, he continued.

“The new bivalent shot is your best protection against both infection & serious illness,” Jha tweeted.

He said people should also test before large gatherings or prior to meeting someone vulnerable, mask up in indoor crowded spaces, and immediately get evaluated for possible treatments in the event of infection, among other safeguards.

“So am I concerned about XBB.1.5? Yes,” Jha tweeted. “Am I worried this represents some huge set back? No We can work together to manage the virus And if we all do our part We can reduce the impact it will have on our lives.”

A number of experts have recently voiced similar concerns about XBB.1.5., including Yale immunobiology professor Akiko Iwasaki, who tweeted Monday that the subvariant “t is now dominating in the Northeast US” and expected to spread.

“Please protect yourselves and others by wearing N95 masks,” Iwasaki tweeted. “I am truly concerned about the #longCOVID wave that follows this infection.”

Trisha Greenlaugh, a professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford in Britain, also recently sounded the alarm on XBB.1.5.

“Kraken (XBB.1.5) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 that you wouldn’t want to catch,” Greenlaugh tweeted Sunday. “Cases are rising. It’s time to ratchet up precautions. High-quality, close-fitting masks work. Avoiding crowds helps. Being outdoors helps. Stay safe.”

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, also weighed in on the new subvariant Thursday morning, stressing that public health experts voicing concerns aren’t in panic mode.

“No one is recommending panic in response to XBB.1.5,” Freedhoff tweeted. “People are though recommending doing more than simply sitting back and watching a far more infectious variant sweep through an already crushed healthcare system. Those suggesting otherwise? They’ve been wrong for 3 years now.”

Meanwhile Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist who teaches at the University of Saskatchewan, stressed the importance of getting the bivalent booster for protection against XBB.1.5.

“A lot of questions about XBB.1.5, which is elbowing out other omicron varieties to be the dominant variant of the winter surge,” Rasmussen tweeted Monday. “XBB.1.5 does seem to have a transmission/fitness advantage but that doesn’t mean it’s an apocalyptic ‘super variant.’ Why? Vaccines work.”

Rasmussen pointed to research showing the bivalent booster is effective in neutralizing XBB.

“XBB.1.5 hasn’t been around long enough to have much data on this but I hypothesize based on its similarity to XBB that neutralization would be similar,” Rasmussen tweeted. “Thus people who got a bivalent booster—as well as those infected w/ omicron—will likely have more anti-XBB.1.5 antibodies.”

That means, Rasmussen continued, that the subvariant shouldn’t cause “big changes” in terms of disease severity.

“But that said, a wave of XBB.1.5 is just as bad as any COVID surge, especially with so many other respiratory viruses around,” Rasmussen tweeted. ” … So what do we do? Most important: get a bivalent booster if you are eligible and if you haven’t already gotten one. I’m finally eligible and getting mine this month. Also, regardless of immune status, stack on other measures (masks, ventilation, etc). This reduces spread.”

The subvariant has been detected in 29 countries so far, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for COVID-19 response, during a briefing Wednesday.

“There may be more,” Van Kerkhove said, calling XBB.1.5 “the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet. … We do expect further waves of infection around the world, but that doesn’t have to translate into further waves of death, because our countermeasures continue to work.”

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Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.