A new variant is on loose
What is JN.1?
JN.1 is a mutated variant of BA.2.86. The BA.2.86 has a total of 20 mutations on the spike protein, which was a big concern when it was first found out because the spike protein is what the virus uses to latch on to the cells of the host. JN.1 is said to have a single change from the BA.2.86.
Is it severe?
" JN.1 was first detected in September 2023 in the United States and has been detected in 11 other countries. With this limited information, it is too early to tell whether it will spread more widely. Neither JN.1 nor BA.2.86 is common in the United States right now," the US CDC has said. JN.1 makes up fewer than 0.1 percent of COVID cases in the US right now.
Do we need updated vaccines?
On this, the US CDC has an important update. "Even though BA.2.86 and JN.1 sound very different because of the way variants are named, there is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein," it says and explains that the spike protein is also part of a virus that vaccines target, meaning vaccines should work against JN.1 and BA.2.86 similarly.
Are there any new symptoms?
So far, no new symptoms associated with infection due to JN.1 have come to the fore. It might be because of the lesser number of cases associated with this new variant. Since it is a subvariant of the Omicron variant, the symptoms seen in this are quite similar to its ancestors. People should be careful about signs like sore throat, fatigue, muscle or body ache, headache, fever, cough, breathing difficulty, etc.
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