The Ministry of Health confirmed this Thursday (7) the first case of Covid caused by the subvariant XE, a hybrid of two strains of the omicron, BA.1 and BA.2.
The Butantan Institute notified the case to the Cievs network (Center for Strategic Information on Health Surveillance), which brings together the country's surveillance system, a day earlier.
The infected person is a 39-year-old man who lives in the city of São Paulo. He is fully vaccinated and has been treated at home.
According to the São Paulo State Health Department, he had only mild symptoms. The diagnosis was confirmed in a PCR scan on March 7. "The man remains under monitoring by state and municipal surveillance in São Paulo," says the secretary.
The genetic sequencing carried out by Butantan found that the infection is "phylogenetically close to the English strain XE, suggesting that there was an importation," according to state management.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon