JN.1 in India and HV.1 in US, Covid doesn't seem to be giving us a break

COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be in the moodto leave us alone anytime soon, as new variants keep popping up now and then. One such new subvariant of the virus, JN.1 that raised concerns in the US has now been detected in the Indian state of Kerala. Meanwhile, the US continues to see the emergence of new Covid variants and is now struggling to bring the HV.1 variant under control.

JN.1, a descendant of Pirola or BA.2.86, increased worries for Kerala’s healthcare system as it was detected for the first time in the state, dodging India’s genome surveillance efforts. The new variant can have a potential impact on the already-rising cases in the state, as per experts.

Now the Indian government has issued an advisory for all the Indian states to stay alert amid the rising number of cases. Winter especially is a time when the virus starts rearing its head again.

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New COVID-19 subvariantJN.1 detected in Kerala

The presence of the latest subvariant in Kerala was confirmed by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

Dr Rajeeb Jayadevan, co-chairman, of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid Task Force, said JN.1 could be a contributing factor in the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India, specifically in Kerala.

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India’s active case count has reached 938, with Kerala recording the highest number of patients, a total of 768.

The new variant was first detected in Europe in August 2023. Luxembourg reported the first case of the new variant, followed by England, Iceland, France and the US. The scientists in the US found the JN.1 variant to be more infectious as it can evade vaccine immunity.

US grappling with HV.1 now

Meanwhile, the United States is now seeing another increase in the number of Covid cases owing to the HV.1 variant. The country is already going through the respiratory virus season and Covid is making matters worse. After JN.1 andEG.5 orEris,HV.1 has become the dominant variant in the county and accounts for an estimated one-third of cases nationwide.

HV.1 rapidly started spreading in October and November.

As per theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, HV.1 accounts fornearly 30 per centof new COVID-19 infections in the US, while JN.1 makes up around 21 per cent of new COVID-19 cases.

Experts say that the number of new cases is expected to grow with the winter season kicking in.

Decoding JN.1, the new COVID-19 variant

JN.1 is a descendant of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.86. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified it as a “notable descendant lineage” of Omicron, indicating its potential for increased transmissibility or immune evasion.

JN.1 carries a mutation that gives it extra immune-evading capabilities. The preprint paper testing how the new vaccines performed against HV.1 also showed that they produced antibodies effective against JN.1, but not as many.

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of JN.1 subvariant include-

Fever

Coughing

Tiredness

Nasal congestion

Runny nose

Diarrhea

Headaches

(With inputs from agencies)