New omicron 'FLiRT' variants account for most COVID-19 cases in the US

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Scripps News

Posted at 8:40 PM, May 06, 2024


Two new omicron subvariants have gained such prevalence in the U.S. that they now account for most of COVID-19 infections in the nation.

According to reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Infectious Diseases Society of America the new Omicron JN.1 subvariants, known as KP.2 and KP.1.1 and nicknamed "FLiRT,” account for 25% and 7.5% of the current COVID cases in the U.S., respectively.

The IDSA says that current data shows that JN.1 is highly effective at evading the immune system, even more so than other omicron variants, which is why is leading to a higher rate of transmission.

"SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is constantly changing and accumulating mutations in its genetic code over time. New variants of SARS-CoV-2 are expected to continue to emerge," the CDC stated. "Some variants will emerge and disappear, while others will emerge and continue to spread and may replace previous variants."

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/health/coronavirus/new-omicron-flirt-variants-account-for-most-covid-19-cases-in-the-us

[BoRaGard]

1. "Drink up, suckers." - Official Republican Leader

[2naSalit]

2. We're half way through...

Year four of what usually ends up being a five year-ish emergency event.

Most viral pandemics of this sort run five years before an amount of immunity prevails over the general global population, vaccine or none.

Too soon to let one's guard down.

[moreland01]

5. We're in year 5.

2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. My how time flies when you're trying to avoid a killer virus.

[2naSalit]

8. Okay...

Still a five year process, generally. Maybe this is the last blast then. Hope it is. It's not like we ever got rid of the flu after all.

[tanyev]

3. And now even hospitals are no longer required to report

Covid hospitalizations and admissions. Great.

[JoseBalow]

9. Wastewater monitoring appears to be the best indicator of transmission

Study findings

Comparisons between wastewater and clinical data indicated that wastewater data is a leading indicator of COVID-19 surges. The lag period varied from WWTP to WWTP, with an average of seven days to a maximum of 12 days across sites. When restricting the analyses to data obtained during Delta and Omicron surges, correlations between wastewater viral load and case data were observed at a rate of 84% and 85% across sites, respectively.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230802/Using-wastewater-monitoring-to-assess-patterns-in-community-transmission-of-COVID-19.aspx

Abstract

Wastewater is a discarded human by-product, but its analysis may help us understand the health of populations. Epidemiologists first analyzed wastewater to track outbreaks of poliovirus decades ago, but so-called wastewater-based epidemiology was reinvigorated to monitor SARS-CoV-2 levels while bypassing the difficulties and pit falls of individual testing. Current approaches overlook the activity of most human viruses and preclude a deeper understanding of human virome community dynamics. Here, we conduct a comprehensive sequencing-based analysis of 363 longitudinal wastewater samples from ten distinct sites in two major cities. Critical to detection is the use of a viral probe capture set targeting thousands of viral species or variants. Over 450 distinct pathogenic viruses from 28 viral families are observed, most of which have never been detected in such samples. Sequencing reads of established pathogens and emerging viruses correlate to clinical data sets of SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, and monkeypox viruses, outlining the public health utility of this approach. Viral communities are tightly organized by space and time. Finally, the most abundant human viruses yield sequence variant information consistent with regional spread and evolution. We reveal the viral landscape of human wastewater and its potential to improve our understanding of outbreaks, transmission, and its effects on overall population health.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42064-1

[IronLionZion]

4. When a little harmless FLiRT can kill you

Be careful who you FLiRT with

[LittleGirl]

6. I had that one last month

I was sick as a dog and I coughed my way through it. I saw the list of symptoms and had every single one except for a negative covid test. I should have retested after the first one but didn't. I was sick for over 18 days. I have recovered. My last covid booster was in September so I needed a new one but didn't get it.

[Arne]

7. At least the Magats don't have horse worms.