WHO declares Eris a Covid 'variant of interest'. Here's why
The WHO classifies the EG.5 coronavirus variant, called Eris, as a "variant of interest" but states that it does not pose a greater threat to public health than other variants, despite its rapid spread.
WHO has declared EG.5 a Covid variant of interest. (Photo courtesy: Getty)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Aug 10, 2023 13:07 IST
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently classified the EG.5 coronavirus strain, which is currently circulating in the United States, UK and China, as a "variant of interest".
Despite its rapid spread and prevalence, accounting for over 17 per cent of cases in the US, the WHO has stated that it does not appear to pose a greater threat to public health than other existing variants.
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Eris is a descendant of Omicron and shares some of its symptoms, including runny nose, headache, fatigue (ranging from mild to severe), sneezing and a sore throat.
This strain has also been detected in several other countries including South Korea, Japan, and Canada. The WHO's risk evaluation indicated that the EG.5 variant, a descendant of the Omicron strain, does not present additional public health risks compared to other circulating lineages of the same parent strain.
However, the organisation has called for a more comprehensive evaluation of the potential risks posed by this variant.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the virus has claimed the lives of over 6.9 million people worldwide, with more than 768 million confirmed cases reported.
The pandemic status of the outbreak was declared by the WHO in March 2020, but the global emergency status was lifted in May of this year.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, noted that while the EG.5 variant is more transmissible, it is not more severe than other Omicron variants.
"We don't detect a change in the severity of EG.5 compared to other sublineages of Omicron that have been in circulation since late 2021," she said.
However, the WHO's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed concern over the lack of Covid-19 data reporting from many countries, revealing that only 11 per cent had reported hospitalisations and ICU (intensive care unit) admissions related to the virus.
In response, the WHO issued a set of recommendations urging countries to continue reporting Covid data, particularly mortality and morbidity data, and to persist in offering vaccinations.
