As the country enters its second summer after the end of the federal government Public health emergency related to COVID-19a new family of viral subvariants that virologists call FLiRT is booming.
“It’s no surprise; it’s still in the cards,” Edwin Michael, Ph.D.epidemiologist at University of South Florida College of Public Healthtell Fortune. “Mutations will continue to happen. »
THE omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has been circulating around the world for almost three years. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified it as a “variant of concern” in November 2021. The original omicron strain, B.1.1.529has since mutated into a number of subvariants, from BA.2.74 to XBB.1.16. Now, a subvariant called KP.2 is the dominant strain nationally, accounting for 29% of infections in the two-week period ending May 25, according to the CDC. COVID Data Tracking.
KP.2, KP.3 and KP.1.1 are part of the omicron subvariants of the FLiRT family, which is not a cutesy nickname. Rather, it comes from the technical names of a pair of spike protein mutations common to the subvariants, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
“It seems like it’s less (infectious) than JN.1, but it’s more immune,” Michael said. “There’s something going on that we don’t know exactly about.”
So far, the CDC has not identified any symptoms specific to FLiRT infection. Keep an eye out for these traditional symptoms of COVID-19:
- Congestion or runny nose
- Cough
- Diarrhea
- Fatigue
- Fever or chills
- Headache
- Muscle or body pain
- New loss of taste or smell
- Nausea or vomiting
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Sore throat
Tirachard—Getty Images
Does the COVID vaccine protect against FLiRT variants?
KP.2 is a descendant of JN.1the omicron subvariant that dominated the United States until early spring, and its mutations have been shown to evade vaccine-induced immune protection, according to the IDSA.
THE COVID-19 vaccines 2023-2024, recommended by the CDC last fall, were designed to target the omicron XBB sublineage, which was spreading at the time. New research published in medical journal The Lancet suggests that the vaccine may not be as effective against KP.2.
Anyway, Dr. William Schaffnerprofessor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Division of Infectious Diseasesrecommends staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Our currently available vaccines still provide a notable measure of protection against these new variants,” says Schaffner. Fortune. “This is especially important for people who are at higher risk of more severe illness if infected.”
Along with adults 65 and older, people with the following conditions are at high risk of serious COVID-19 infection and may need additional vaccine doses, according to the CDC:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney, liver or lung disease
- Cystic fibrosis
- Dementia or other neurological disorders
- Diabetes (types 1 or 2)
- Disabled
- Heart disease
- HIV
- Immunocompromised state or weakened immune system
- Mental health problems
- Overweight and obesity
- Physical inactivity
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell anemia or thalassemia
- Smoking (current or former)
- Solid organ or blood stem cell transplant
- Stroke or cerebrovascular disease
- Substance Use Disorders
- Tuberculosis
THE upcoming vaccines for 2024-2025 can be formulated to provide better protection against FLiRT variants. Michael adds that people who have already been infected with JN.1 will likely have natural cross-immunity against these variants.
“This helps test why we are unlikely to have large waves (of infections),” Michael said.
Will FLiRT variants cause a summer COVID surge?
While each of the FLiRT variants increased its share of cases in the United States this spring, weekly test positivity percentages have been in constant decline since January.
Summer means increased travel and gatherings for many, and while there’s no need to panic about FLiRT variants, Schaffner says, continued vigilance on public health practices such as washing clothes hands and wearing a mask around vulnerable people will help keep the virus at bay.
“COVID, even though it has diminished over time, is still there, smoldering,” Schaffner says. “These new variants remain contagious and continue to cause disease. COVID doesn’t go away during the summer like the flu does.
Michael echoes: “You might get a surge in cases, but you won’t get to the types we saw last summer or the summer before.” »
In all the countries monthly COVID-19 hospitalization rates have steadily declined since December, according to CDC records, and weekly death rates have been declining since mid-January. This data indicates that FLiRT variants cause less severe infection than previous variants, Michael says.
“At this point, the virus is just trying to persist,” says Michael. “He doesn’t want to kill people – that would be the end of the virus itself. He’s just trying to find a way to keep transmitting.
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