The latest Covid-19 strain is a cause of "some concern", according to a leading public health expert.

The BQ1 strain of the Omicron variant appears to be more transmissible than previous mutations, already circulating widely around the world.

Several hundred cases have been recorded here, according to Professor of Health Systems at Dublin City University Anthony Staines.

He believes vigilance around personal hygiene is needed to keep case numbers down.

"This is just the latest one that we're seeing circulating  fairly widely around the world", he explained.

"A lot of variants pop up and then disappear."

"This one does not seem to be doing that", he said.

"It seems to be spreading and that's a cause for some concern both in Ireland and in other countries around Europe."

Strain on hospitals

The crisis in Irish hospitals is in danger of escalating with the spreading of this new strain, Prof Staines warned.

He is urging people to be vigilant to help keep hospital admissions low.

"We're in a situation where the hospitals are already very occupied with RSV [Respiratory Syncytial Virus], with COVID cases arriving in hospitals and with influenza", he said.

"Everything we can do to reduce the number of cases will have a huge impact."

"That includes things like wearing masks in crowded places, ensuring ventilation is adequate if you run a premises."

'Are we now free of it?'

While new variants continue to pop up, Professor Luke O'Neill says that those who have been vaccinated, boosted and infected by COVID-19 have a “great combination” of things protecting them.

The immunology professor is currently in Japan and at a conference to discuss the disease in a post-restrictions era.

“One of the big themes was, ‘Are we now free of it?’” Professor O’Neill told The Pat Kenny Show.

“By ‘free of it’, what we mean is, if you’re vaccinated, if you’re boosted and if you’ve been infected - that’s a great combination of things to happen.

“Because if you’ve been infected as well as being vaccinated, you’ve got multiple layers of protection across all different parts of the immune system.”

Main image shows Anthony Staines is seen at the the DCU Child Health Conference in 2013. Picture by: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie