The new variant of Covid-19, Eris, is spreading quicker than other recent variants, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has confirmed.
As of last Tuesday, August 15th, there had been 94 Covid-19 cases confirmed as being from the Eris (EG.5.1) variant, though this is likely to be a gross underestimation as many people are not reporting having Covid-19.
Of these cases, 45 (47.9 per cent) were associated with outbreaks in hospital or healthcare settings. The lineage is now dominant in Ireland.
The HPSC said Eris has impacted on the health service with Covid-19 detected in hospitals as well as care homes.
The centre cautioned that, though the mutation is highly transmissible, there is no evidence of it causing more severe infection.
Last Thursday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) classified Eris as a variant of concern.
[ Covid-19 Q&A: Should we be worried about the new variant ‘Eris’?Opens in new window ]
The ECDC said it is “likely” the variant will contribute to “increased transmission in the coming weeks. However, it is unlikely that the levels will reach those of previous peaks observed during the Covid-19 pandemic”.
The body added it is also unlikely the variants are “associated with any increase in infection severity compared to previously circulating variants, or reduction in vaccine effectiveness against severe disease”.
Last Friday chief medical officer Prof Breda Smyth said the rise in Covid-19 in recent weeks in Ireland can be attributed to EG.5. She said it was normal behaviour for a virus to evolve and mutate like that.
“We see increased waves of Covid activity every few months as new sub-variants emerge and they will continue to emerge so we should not be alarmed by them,” she said.
EG.5 is also increasing globally though is not yet the most dominant strain. Other variants that share some of the same mutations are also being monitored globally for changes in numbers and any associated changes in clinical presentation.
A new variant that is causing concern in the UK has not yet been detected in the Republic.
BA.2.86 is associated with a high number of mutations. Last week Prof Francois Balloux, director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said BA.2.86 was the most striking Covid strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron.
A HPSC spokesman said the emergence of BA.2.86 in different countries suggests international transmission. The case found within the UK had no recent history of foreign travel. Therefore he or she must have picked it up within the community.
The spokeswoman added: “For that reason, we are monitoring the situation closely in Ireland and our partners in the NVRL [National Virus Reference Laboratory] have been advised and will monitor for any signs of this variant in their genomic surveillance activities.
“Working with international partners we will continue to review this new variant for any signs of increased transmissibility, increase clinical severity or immune evasion.”
