THE Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday, February 15, 2023, that it has detected the country’s first case of omicron subvariant XBF, which is reportedly the cause of recent increase of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Australia and Sweden.
In a statement, the health department said the lone XBF case in the country was detected on January 28 from a specimen collected in December 2022.
It did not indicate any information about the case.
XBF is a recombinant sublineage of BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1 (BA.2.75.3 sublineage).
“Based on wastewater analysis conducted in Australia, as of February 10, XBF accounts for approximately 55 percent of total cases detected in Victoria, Australia. Preliminary studies also show that many of Australia’s antiviral treatments against Covid-19 were no longer effective against multiple Omicron subvariants circulating in the country, including XBF,” the DOH said.
"However, currently available evidence for XBF does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original omicron variant. Currently, the subvariant is still reported under omicron by the WHO and will remain classified under omicron until sufficient evidence arises showing that the virus characteristics are significantly different from omicron," it added.
Aside from the XBF case, the DOH said two additional cases of the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 were also detected based on the genome sequence results released from February 7 to February 9.
Out of the recent 69 samples sequenced by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) during the said period, 26 were classified as XBB (including two cases classified as XBB.1.5), 10 as BA.2.3.20, three as BA.5 (including one case classified as BQ.1), two as BA.2.75, one as XBC, and 20 as other Omicron sublineages.
Of the 26 XBB cases, one case was classified as a returning overseas Filipino, and the rest were local cases from Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, and National Capital Region.
The XBB.1.5, dubbed the "Kraken," is the most transmissible Covid-19 subvariant so far, according to the DOH. Its first case was detected last week.
The XBF, XBB.1.5, and CH.1.1 were recently included by the World Health Organization to its list of “Omicron subvariants under monitoring.” (SunStar Philippines)