UK Tracks Stratus Covid Variant XFG and XFG.3, hoarse voice noted

A new Covid variant known as Stratus, consisting of subvariants XFG and XFG.3, is circulating widely in the United Kingdom and has been linked by clinicians to a distinctive early symptom of a hoarse or rasping voice, health agencies said. The UK Health Security Agency reported a rise in Covid positivity in England in recent weeks and warned that the virus is moving into the seasonal period when respiratory infections typically increase.

Government data show Covid positivity in national surveillance rising from 7.6 percent to 8.4 percent in one week, and Covid hospital admissions climbing from 2.00 to 2.73 per 100,000 people. UKHSA scientists have previously reported XFG.3 as a significant proportion of infections in England, with XFG lineages first detected in January and spreading internationally in the months since. The World Health Organization designated XFG as a variant under monitoring after it had been detected in several dozen countries by June, and US wastewater surveillance recently identified XFG as predominant in samples for a mid-September week.

Public health bodies say current evidence does not indicate that the Stratus variants cause more severe disease than...