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The World Health Organization on Tuesday declared the coronavirus subvariant JN.1 a variant of interest “due to its rapidly increasing spread.”
In early November it accounted for about 3 percent of all coronavirus cases, but 27.1 percent a month later worldwide, the WHO said. It is believed that the emergence of JN.1 could lead to an increase in cases, especially in countries experiencing winter.
The WHO designation came after the number of emergency room visits in the United States for Covid-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus overall reached their highest level since February, The Washington Post reported last week ahead of the holidays.
Here's what you should know about JN.1.
JN.1 evolved from the BA.2.86 variant, a descendant of Omicron, the coronavirus variant that wreaked havoc in early 2022. JN.1 has an additional spike protein mutation compared to its parent. It was first reported in August.
However, based on available evidence, WHO does not believe that JN.1 poses a significant additional risk to public health. The overall risk assessment of the variant is “low”.
“While there is a rapid increase in JN.1 infections and likely an increase in cases, the limited evidence available does not suggest that the associated disease severity is any higher,” it said.
What are the symptoms of JN.1?
It is not known whether the symptoms of JN.1 are significantly different from those of other variants, and there is no indication that it is more severe, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The type of symptoms and their severity usually depend on a person's immunity and general health rather than the variant causing the infection,” it said.
According to the CDC, general Covid-19 symptoms include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nasal congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
The CDC recommends getting an updated coronavirus vaccine to increase protection against JN.1. Existing coronavirus tests, treatments and vaccines are expected to work against the variant, similar to how they work against others. The vaccines recommended in the United States are those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax.
JN.1 has been registered in 41 countries. The countries with the largest proportion of JN.1 cases are France, the United States, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom and Sweden, according to the WHO.
It first appeared in the United States in September and is the fastest-growing variant in the country, the CDC said Dec. 8.
What is a variant of interest?
The WHO designation “variant of interest” is used for variants of the coronavirus that appear to be growing faster than others and that have genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect virus properties. These could include Transmissibility, virulence, antibody evasion, susceptibility to therapeutics and detectability.
The designation creates responsibilities for WHO and its member states in connection with monitoring and the collection and exchange of information.
It is less serious than the “variant of concern,” which is applied to strains that are more severe, pose a significant burden on the health system or against which vaccines are less effective. These have Greek letter names such as Delta and Omicron.
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