Just as the world was beginning to feel a sense of relief from the impact of COVID-19, a new cause for concern has emerged with the appearance of the Eris variant. This mutant strain, derived from the Omicron variant, is spreading at an accelerated rate. A recurring pattern of symptoms resembling COVID-19, accompanied by negative test results, is now resurfacing. This phenomenon, referred to as "pre-COVID," was previously observed during the early days of the pandemic and contributed to the rapid spread of the virus.
In the pre-COVID phase, individuals exhibit COVID-like symptoms, yet their test results come back negative. Subsequently, about a week later, their condition worsens, and a positive test result is obtained. This pre-COVID stage marks the initial phase of COVID-19 infection, known as the incubation period. During this period, the body is infected with the virus, leading to symptom manifestation, but the viral load is too low to be detected by testing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the EG.5 variant nicknamed "Eris," as a variant of interest. Eris emerged in November 2021. Currently, there is no indication that Eris poses a greater threat to public health compared to other variants. The WHO has not identified any evidence linking EG.5 to increased disease severity. Presently, Eris has been identified in over 50 countries and constitutes 17% of total COVID-19 cases in the United States.
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Transmission Rate Of Eris
EG.5 exhibits a notable advantage in terms of its growth rate compared to other forms of the Omicron variant. Among the 7,354 sequences submitted to GISAID, China has contributed the highest number of EG.5 sequences, followed by the United States, Korea, Japan, and Canada.
Symptoms Of Eris
In a risk assessment published on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that despite the heightened prevalence, growth advantage, and immune evasion traits observed in EG.5, there have been no documented alterations in disease severity up to this point. Symptoms associated with the emerging Eris variant of Covid include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, fever, fatigue, and other manifestations.