In Conversation: Decoding the XBB and BF.7 variants spreading panic in India

The two sub-lineages that the country is panicking about- BF.7 and XBB of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 have been circulating in India since June.

In fact, the latter has been the dominant variant circulating in entire India, but has not really taken off to create any wave, explains Dr Chitra Pattabiraman, Chief Scientific Officer of Infectious Disease Research Foundation (DRF) who works on emerging viruses in human populations, how they mutate/diversity and how this impacts their ability to cause disease.

In Conversation with South First’s Health Editor Chetana Belagere, Dr Pattabiraman speaks on which is the dominant variant circulating in India and South India.