New Variant of the Coronavirus has been Registered in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, the XBB.1.5 variant of COVID-19 was detected for the first time. This was announced by the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases and specified that the case was registered in Sofia.

It is explained that this variant is being watched with caution by the World Health Organization because of its potential for accelerated spread and reduced neutralization by vaccine and natural immunity than previous variants of the coronavirus.

The center analyzed 87 clinical samples with SARS-CoV-2, which were taken from patients in the period December 9, 2022 - January 11, 2023. The samples were sent from 14 medical facilities from 10 regions of the country. The "Omicron" variant was found in all samples. The variant ratio is specified as BA.2.3.20 (1.1%), BA.5.x (16.1%), BE.x/BF.x (37.9%), BN.x ( 11.5%), BQ.1.x (26.4%), CL.1/CP.1 (2.3%), XBB.1.5 (1.1%), other XBB.x (3.4%).