Eris is confirmed as the predominant Covid variant in Italy, while Pirola has not yet been detected. According to the weekly Covid-19 monitoring report, edited by the Ministry of Health and the Higher Institute of Health, as of 18 September “there are no sequences deposited in the I-Co-Gen platform attributable to the recently designated lineage BA.2.86, subject monitoring by ECDC and the World Health Organization, characterized by the presence of numerous mutations in the Spike protein”.
However, “a predominance of sequences attributable to EG.5” is observed, reaching 34.2%. The data available to date show that the newly formulated vaccines, based on XBB.1.5, also have a good response against EG.5.1, the report highlights. “The cocirculation of omicron recombinant viral strains attributable to XBB is confirmed, of which 17.9% is XBB.1.5”. In the week from August 28 to September 3, EG.5.1 “was the most frequent sub-lineage (13.6%). XBB.1.5.70 and GE.1 were expanding.”
