In 2 weeks, XEC jumps from 5th to 2nd most dominant COVID variant

Becker's Healthcare October 16, 2024
Paige Twenter

As COVID-19 variant KP.3.1.1 remains the top circulating variant in the U.S., XEC has climbed from the fifth to second most dominant variant, according to CDC data.

For the two weeks ending Sept. 28, KP.3.1.1 accounted for 52.6% of cases, KP.2.3 was 10.4%, LB.1 was 8.3%, KP.3 was 8.1% and XEC was 5.3%.

Over the following two weeks, KP.3.1.1 grew to 57.2% of cases, and XEC jumped to account for 10.7%. The other three declined in prominence: 7.8% of cases were KP.2.3, 5.8% were LB.1 and 5.7% were KP.3.

All five of these variants are offshoots of the JN.1 lineage, which stems from omicron subvariant BA.2.86....

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