Coronavirus subvariant omicron XBB.1.5 detected in Finland
Monitoring by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has detected the first instance of subvariant XBB.1.5 of the omicron variant of coronavirus in Finland.
The omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant was first found in October 2022 in the United States, where it has spread highly effectively. Since then, it has also been detected in the United Kingdom and several countries within the EU/EEA.
“It was expected that this variant of the virus would end up in Finland sooner or later. Viruses of the XBB.1.5 subvariant have been assessed to be highly infectious and, as is currently the case with the omicron variants circulating in Finland, XBB.1.5 effectively evades immune protection. At the moment, however, there is no reason to believe that it causes a more severe version of the disease than any other omicron variant, and vaccine protection against severe disease has remained excellent regardless of the variant”, says Carita Savolainen-Kopra, Chief Specialist at THL.
THL monitors the occurrence of different coronavirus variants in Finland with whole-genome sequencing. It is used on samples to identify the lineages of viruses circulating in the population and the mutations occurring in them. The results are reported to the National Infectious Diseases Register and as a summary to THL’s website after 2–3 weeks from sample collection.
Further information
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genome monitoring (THL, in Finnish)
Carita Savolainen-Kopra
Chief Specialist
THL
tel. +358 (0)29 524 8884
[email protected]
Hanna Nohynek
Chief Physician
THL
tel. +358 (0)29 524 8246
[email protected]
