New XEC COVID variant is on the rise. What are its symptoms, and will it cause a surge?

As COVID activity remains high in the United States, a new variant called XEC is spreading rapidly in Europe and other parts of the world. Although few cases have been detected in the U.S.

so far, experts are projecting that XEC could be on track to become the dominant strain in the country this fall. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID, is continuing to mutate, giving rise to new, highly contagious variants. The latest one to gain interest and make headlines, the recombinant omicron variant called XEC has sparked recent discourse among scientists on X.

Dr. Eric Topol, physician scientist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, that the "XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next." As respiratory virus season approaches in the U.

S., some are concerned about whether XEC could cause a fall surge, and if the new COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out will protect against it. What do we know about the XEC variant so far, what symptoms does it cause, and what can we expect in the coming months? XEC is a recombinant of two previous variants, KP.

3.3 (a ) and KS.1.

1, Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease physician and professor at Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com.

"When a person's infected with two different SARS-CoV-2 variants, you can get what we call a recombination, where pieces of the genetic material from one recombine with the other, and that can create a new strain," says Ko. The XEC variant is a sublineage of omicron, ju.