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0 / 31 Fotos
XEC variant
- When the most recent variant of COVID-19, XEC, started to become dominant in the autumn of 2024, doctors began to prepare themselves for a rise in hospitalizations.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Recombination
- Research showed that XEC had arisen through recombination, a process whereby two previous variants had merged their genetic material.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Expectations
- Everything pointed towards a dangerous variant that would easily be able to evade the immune protection offered by vaccines or exposure to previous variants.
© Shutterstock
3 / 31 Fotos
Reality
- Despite doctors’ concerns, however, there was no surge in hospitalizations. In fact, in December 2024 hospitalizations in the US were down by two thirds versus December 2023.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Theory
- Given that the XEC variant certainly was infecting people, experts began to wonder whether COVID-19 is simply becoming more mild as a disease.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Indications of milder COVID-19
- There are certainly some good indications that COVID-19 is a less serious disease than it once was.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Reduction in common symptoms
- For instance, the once common loss of taste and smell as a symptom of COVID-19 is becoming increasingly less frequent.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Fewer hospitalizations
- Furthermore, although some people are still being hospitalized due to a COVID-19 infection, the vast majority are either asymptomatic or experience very mild symptoms.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Very mild symptoms
- In fact, many people are now experiencing a cold so mild that the symptoms could easily be mistaken as the result of a seasonal allergy.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Risk groups
- Immunocompromised people are still particularly vulnerable; however, experts now believe that the main risk factor for becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 is being older than 75.
© Shutterstock
10 / 31 Fotos
In the case of hospitalization
- Even when COVID-19 patients are admitted to hospital, treatment protocols also seem to suggest that the disease is becoming less serious.
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
Use of anticoagulants
- For example, in the past, anticoagulants or blood thinning medications were immediately administered upon the patient’s arrival.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Use of anticoagulants
- The purpose of these treatments was to lower the chance of clotting, but today this is no longer considered necessary.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Use of steroids
- The use of strong steroids, such as dexamethasone, rather than antivirals is also becoming increasingly less common.
© Shutterstock
14 / 31 Fotos
Use of steroids
- Indeed, while steroids are still used to treat very severe cases of COVID-19, resorting to using them is now the exception rather than the rule.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Why is this happening?
- According to Peter Chin-Hong, a professor in the Health Division of Infectious Diseases at UC San Francisco, there are two possible explanations for why COVID-19 may be getting milder.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Powerful immune memory
- The first is that people have now been infected with, and vaccinated against, COVID-19 so many times that they have developed a powerful immune memory.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Powerful immune memory
- As a result, any new COVID-19 infections are quickly removed from the body before they have time to penetrate deeper and cause serious disease.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Long COVID data
- According to Chin-Hong, the fact that new cases of long COVID are also falling is a good indication that this is what is happening.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Long COVID data
- Long COVID is triggered by an aberrant immune response, and if the virus is not sticking around for so long there is less chance of the response being triggered.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
The virus is in a rut
- The second possibility for why people are becoming less sick with COVID-19 is that the disease itself has settled into a rut.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
The virus is in a rut
- If this is the case, experts predict that the disease will continue to get progressively milder, until it closely resembles the common cold.
© Shutterstock
22 / 31 Fotos
Previous coronaviruses
- According to Chin-Hong, this makes sense when we look at how coronaviruses evolved in the past.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Previous coronaviruses
- Indeed, according to what happened in the case of historical coronavirus outbreaks, we can expect a less invasive disease, and fewer cases of long COVID, as the population immunity improves.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Expert recommendations
- Despite these indications, experts still recommend that vulnerable groups get the most recent COVID-19 vaccine.
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
The importance of vaccines
- Indeed, vaccinations continue to provide important protection against serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Nothing is certain
- Furthermore, although there appears to be a downward trend in the number of serious illnesses due to COVID-19, we cannot be sure what will happen in the future.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Possibility of more serious variants
- Indeed, while the XEC variant appears to cause less severe disease, we cannot be certain that more serious variants will not emerge in the future.
© Shutterstock
28 / 31 Fotos
Exercising caution
- Experts therefore recommend people continue to exercise caution and not consider that the threat from COVID-19 is over.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Risk of long COVID
- Similarly, the risk of developing long COVID has not completely gone away, and for some people the condition can last years. Sources: (BBC) See also: The signs and symptoms of long Covid
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
© Shutterstock
0 / 31 Fotos
XEC variant
- When the most recent variant of COVID-19, XEC, started to become dominant in the autumn of 2024, doctors began to prepare themselves for a rise in hospitalizations.
© Shutterstock
1 / 31 Fotos
Recombination
- Research showed that XEC had arisen through recombination, a process whereby two previous variants had merged their genetic material.
© Shutterstock
2 / 31 Fotos
Expectations
- Everything pointed towards a dangerous variant that would easily be able to evade the immune protection offered by vaccines or exposure to previous variants.
© Shutterstock
3 / 31 Fotos
Reality
- Despite doctors’ concerns, however, there was no surge in hospitalizations. In fact, in December 2024 hospitalizations in the US were down by two thirds versus December 2023.
© Shutterstock
4 / 31 Fotos
Theory
- Given that the XEC variant certainly was infecting people, experts began to wonder whether COVID-19 is simply becoming more mild as a disease.
© Shutterstock
5 / 31 Fotos
Indications of milder COVID-19
- There are certainly some good indications that COVID-19 is a less serious disease than it once was.
© Shutterstock
6 / 31 Fotos
Reduction in common symptoms
- For instance, the once common loss of taste and smell as a symptom of COVID-19 is becoming increasingly less frequent.
© Shutterstock
7 / 31 Fotos
Fewer hospitalizations
- Furthermore, although some people are still being hospitalized due to a COVID-19 infection, the vast majority are either asymptomatic or experience very mild symptoms.
© Shutterstock
8 / 31 Fotos
Very mild symptoms
- In fact, many people are now experiencing a cold so mild that the symptoms could easily be mistaken as the result of a seasonal allergy.
© Shutterstock
9 / 31 Fotos
Risk groups
- Immunocompromised people are still particularly vulnerable; however, experts now believe that the main risk factor for becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 is being older than 75.
© Shutterstock
10 / 31 Fotos
In the case of hospitalization
- Even when COVID-19 patients are admitted to hospital, treatment protocols also seem to suggest that the disease is becoming less serious.
© Shutterstock
11 / 31 Fotos
Use of anticoagulants
- For example, in the past, anticoagulants or blood thinning medications were immediately administered upon the patient’s arrival.
© Shutterstock
12 / 31 Fotos
Use of anticoagulants
- The purpose of these treatments was to lower the chance of clotting, but today this is no longer considered necessary.
© Shutterstock
13 / 31 Fotos
Use of steroids
- The use of strong steroids, such as dexamethasone, rather than antivirals is also becoming increasingly less common.
© Shutterstock
14 / 31 Fotos
Use of steroids
- Indeed, while steroids are still used to treat very severe cases of COVID-19, resorting to using them is now the exception rather than the rule.
© Shutterstock
15 / 31 Fotos
Why is this happening?
- According to Peter Chin-Hong, a professor in the Health Division of Infectious Diseases at UC San Francisco, there are two possible explanations for why COVID-19 may be getting milder.
© Shutterstock
16 / 31 Fotos
Powerful immune memory
- The first is that people have now been infected with, and vaccinated against, COVID-19 so many times that they have developed a powerful immune memory.
© Shutterstock
17 / 31 Fotos
Powerful immune memory
- As a result, any new COVID-19 infections are quickly removed from the body before they have time to penetrate deeper and cause serious disease.
© Shutterstock
18 / 31 Fotos
Long COVID data
- According to Chin-Hong, the fact that new cases of long COVID are also falling is a good indication that this is what is happening.
© Shutterstock
19 / 31 Fotos
Long COVID data
- Long COVID is triggered by an aberrant immune response, and if the virus is not sticking around for so long there is less chance of the response being triggered.
© Shutterstock
20 / 31 Fotos
The virus is in a rut
- The second possibility for why people are becoming less sick with COVID-19 is that the disease itself has settled into a rut.
© Shutterstock
21 / 31 Fotos
The virus is in a rut
- If this is the case, experts predict that the disease will continue to get progressively milder, until it closely resembles the common cold.
© Shutterstock
22 / 31 Fotos
Previous coronaviruses
- According to Chin-Hong, this makes sense when we look at how coronaviruses evolved in the past.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Previous coronaviruses
- Indeed, according to what happened in the case of historical coronavirus outbreaks, we can expect a less invasive disease, and fewer cases of long COVID, as the population immunity improves.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Expert recommendations
- Despite these indications, experts still recommend that vulnerable groups get the most recent COVID-19 vaccine.
© Shutterstock
25 / 31 Fotos
The importance of vaccines
- Indeed, vaccinations continue to provide important protection against serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
© Shutterstock
26 / 31 Fotos
Nothing is certain
- Furthermore, although there appears to be a downward trend in the number of serious illnesses due to COVID-19, we cannot be sure what will happen in the future.
© Shutterstock
27 / 31 Fotos
Possibility of more serious variants
- Indeed, while the XEC variant appears to cause less severe disease, we cannot be certain that more serious variants will not emerge in the future.
© Shutterstock
28 / 31 Fotos
Exercising caution
- Experts therefore recommend people continue to exercise caution and not consider that the threat from COVID-19 is over.
© Shutterstock
29 / 31 Fotos
Risk of long COVID
- Similarly, the risk of developing long COVID has not completely gone away, and for some people the condition can last years. Sources: (BBC) See also: The signs and symptoms of long Covid
© Shutterstock
30 / 31 Fotos
Why COVID-19 appears to be getting more mild
Is the pesky virus on its way out?
© Shutterstock
As the newest COVID-19 variant XEC started to spread in the autumn of 2024, health experts around the world braced themselves for another tough winter of COVID-19 hospitalizations. But despite data that shows the variant is spreading, the surge in hospitalizations did not occur as doctors feared. According to experts, this is just one in a number of indications that COVID-19 could be getting more mild as a disease. Could it be?
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