Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)— The Philippines has detected its first case of the Omicron subvariant XBF, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
The DOH’s latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report showed that the lone reported infection was sequenced on Jan. 28, with the specimen collected last December.
Details about the patient have not been divulged.
The Omicron XBF — classified by the World Health Organization as a subvariant under monitoring — is a recombinant sublineage of the BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1, the DOH noted.
It has been flagged by experts for its “increasing prevalence” and has been linked to recent case spikes in Australia and Sweden, the agency added.
“Preliminary studies also show that many of Australia’s antiviral treatments against COVID-19 were no longer effective against multiple Omicron subvariants circulating in the country, including XBF. However, currently available evidence for XBF does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant,” the DOH wrote.
Meanwhile, the country also logged two additional cases of the variant XBB.1.5 — which was first reported by the department last week.
