Overview

• Doctors report that hoarseness or a raspy voice often appears early in Stratus infections, preceding typical cold‑like symptoms.
• Stratus comprises the XFG and XFG.3 lineages, first identified in January and now detected widely as it expands across the UK and Ireland.
• WHO lists XFG as a variant under monitoring and reports no evidence of increased disease severity or added public‑health risk versus other Omicron descendants.
• UKHSA data show a 7.6% week‑on‑week rise in England’s infections as of September 10, and Irish officials recorded 425 new cases in the first week of September with XFG thought to account for most.
• UKHSA says current vaccines remain effective against severe illness, while some clinicians suggest possible greater immune evasion that remains unproven.