A doctor has issued a warning that the latest Covid-19 strain, Stratus, can cause a "unpleasant bug," among other debilitating symptoms.

The new strain is sweeping across the UK, an Omicron subvariant XFG known as Stratus (XFG).

In Ireland, there were 425 new infections in the first week of September, with experts pointing towards XFG as the reason.

In an interview with the Mirror , Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, warned: "This emerging COVID variant looks to be similar to other recent strains in terms of severity of illness, and it's likely the existing vaccines will continue to be effective against 'Stratus'.

"However, as ever, more data will be useful in fully judging how much of a threat this new strain may pose.

"COVID-19 is still an

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