A Covid strain dubbed the "nightmare" variant" has reached 18 cases in the UK, with scientists urging the public to remain up-to-date with vaccinations.
It's after 18 samples of the mutant XBB strain were detected in the UK out of a global total of 1,086,639 samples, which were uploaded from Singapore.
It is thought that the variant may be a factor in the recent spike in cases because it spreads quickly and appeared to evade people's vaccine protection.
While the mutant XBB strain has not been officially designated a variant of concern yet, experts were monitoring the situation closely.
It's one of two new mutant strains of coronavirus that have emerged in the UK; the second being the BQ.1 variant.
There have been over 700 cases of the BQ.1 variant logged in the UK, so far.
Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infection at the UK Health Standards Agency (UKHSA), said: "It is not unexpected to see new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge.
"Neither BQ.1 nor XBB have been designated as variants of concern and UKHSA is monitoring the situation closely, as always.
"Vaccination remains our best defence against future Covid-19 waves, so it is still as important as ever that people come take up all the doses for which they are eligible as soon as possible."
XBB was first found in India in August and has since been found in Bangladesh, Japan, Singapore and at least 13 more countries - including Australia and Denmark.
It has also been detected in Hong Kong.
Singapore Ministry of Health said XBB went from being responsible for 22 per cent of cases to being responsible for 54 per cent of cases in one week. Almost 80 per cent of people in Singapore are fully vaccinated.
Singapore’s health ministry said there was no evidence that XBB causes more severe illness, although it appears resistant to treatments.
Singapore health minister Ong Ye Kung said the country is likely to see 15,000 daily cases on average by mid-November.
Infectious disease expert John Swartzberg previously told the San Francisco Chronicle : “We are seeing a slew of new variants that are using a similar approach to survive — they are finding ways to evade the way we get immunity from vaccines and previous infection with changes on the spike protein.
“XBB is no different from the others.”
XBB is a mutation on Omicron BA.2. 23 cases of XBB have been detected in the USA.
Natalie Thornburg, CDC lead respiratory virus immunology specialist said: “XBB is a chimera. I think there have been a couple of sequences identified in the United States.
"But it’s way, way, way, way below that one per cent threshold. I mean, it’s really like a handful of sequences.”
