Is the new coronavirus making a comeback? The strongest new coronavirus variant JN.1 is spreading rapidly in 12 countries around the world

Recently, a new coronavirus variant called JN.1 is spreading rapidly around the world and has been found in 12 countries. On December 12, "new coronavirus variant JN.1" became a hot search on the Internet, triggering a new round of public concern.

On December 8, the official website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States included JN.1 in the SARS-CoV-2 Nowcast for the first time, stating that JN.1 is the fastest growing variant of the coronavirus in the United States . As of that day, the CDC estimated that the JN.1 variant accounted for about 15% to 29% of the prevalent variants in the United States, while in the estimate on November 27, its proportion was less than 1%, and earlier at the end of October, it accounted for less than 0.1%.

The CDC said it is "still learning about" JN.1 and is investigating how it carries mutations that allow it to avoid being detected by the immune system.

In addition to the United States, the JN.1 variant has been found in 12 countries. European countries' COVID-19 monitoring data also showed that the JN.1 variant infection has gradually become dominant and is on an upward trend. As of mid-November, exponential growth has occurred in many European countries, including Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Spain and France. Especially in Denmark, the variant virus infection has covered 50% of the population. The United Kingdom also claimed that the weekly growth rate of JN.1 is expected to be 84.2%, and the spread rate is much faster than other known variants.

As the JN.1 variant spreads, British and American health agencies claim that it has become the fastest growing COVID-19 variant known to date and is expected to trigger a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently monitoring the variant but has not yet designated it as a variant of concern (VOC).

This rapidly spreading variant was first discovered in Luxembourg in August this year and is actually still a subvariant of the Omicron system. Moreover, it happens to be a descendant of the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2.86.

The infectiousness of BA.2.86 has long attracted the attention and warnings of scientists from many countries. Scientists pointed out that unlike previous variants, the number of mutations of BA.2.86 has set a record, with more than 30 mutations, which means it may be easier to evade the current vaccine and antibody protection.

However, there is currently no indication that JN.1 has increased pathogenicity or that it poses an increased public health risk relative to other currently circulating variants.

Amesh Adalja, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that while the JN.1 variant should be of concern, "it's not something that has spread very widely or deeply," he said. "It's a very rare variant that's an offshoot of BA.2.86, but BA.2.86 never really 'took off'."

However, Professor Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist at the University of Manchester, believes that the spike protein mutation means that after infection with JN.1, patients may take longer to recover or may cause more severe illness.

In addition to the JN.1 variant, Omicron's derivative variant HV.1 is also highly transmissible and immune-evasive, and it has become the main virus strain in the United States. Dr. Chris Papadopoulos, chief lecturer in public health at the University of Bedfordshire, said people need to pay attention to the symptoms of both strains: People infected with the HV.1 strain may experience fever, cough, fatigue, nasal congestion or runny nose, and the JN.1 strain has the same symptoms, but the infected person may also experience headaches and diarrhea.

China is showing a fluctuating downward trend! The latest reminder from the National Health Commission

"At present, the number of children's respiratory diseases diagnosed and treated in medical institutions at or above the second level across the country has shown an overall fluctuating downward trend."

On December 10, the National Health Commission held a press conference on the prevention and control of winter respiratory diseases. Mi Feng, spokesperson of the National Health Commission and deputy director of the Publicity Department, introduced that the increase in pediatric diagnosis and treatment volume in some large children's specialty hospitals and general hospitals has been alleviated to a certain extent.

Mi Feng introduced that judging from the overall situation of fever clinics and emergency departments, the number of patients with respiratory diseases in the country has been relatively stable in recent times, especially primary medical institutions have diverted some patients. The overall normal medical services in the country have not been affected.

Adequate vaccine supply

"Influenza vaccination is an effective way to prevent influenza and reduce influenza-related severe illness and death." Xia Gang, director of the Health and Immunization Department of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that this year, relevant departments took joint action to optimize procedures and bought time to ensure vaccine supply before the epidemic season. Influenza vaccination services have been launched in various places since July. The production and supply of influenza vaccines this year has increased significantly compared with last year, and can meet the vaccination needs of the public at this stage.

Peng Zhibin, director of the Respiratory Infectious Diseases Office of the Infectious Disease Management Division of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that students, faculty and staff should receive influenza and other vaccinations as early as possible to improve their own immune barriers and reduce the risk of disease.

"After the elderly and other high-risk groups are infected with influenza, the probability of serious complications is higher. Vaccination with the flu vaccine can not only reduce infection, but also effectively reduce the risk of severe illness and death." Xia Gang said that the country encourages all localities to increase vaccination publicity efforts based on the characteristics of the elderly population, and guides all localities to provide convenient and efficient influenza vaccination services for the elderly by setting up "green channels" for the elderly, opening special vaccination sessions for the elderly, using mobile vaccination vehicles, and setting up temporary vaccination points.

Xia Gang reminded that if you have flu-like symptoms and recover on your own without being diagnosed, you should also get the flu vaccine. He explained that fever, headache and other symptoms may be common colds or infections with other pathogens. In addition, there are multiple types and subtypes of influenza viruses, and the flu vaccine is a multivalent vaccine that covers different types and subtypes. Therefore, even if you get vaccinated after recovering from the infection, it can also prevent other types of influenza.

Source: Popular Science China, Physician News, Yangcheng Evening News, China.com, Cailianshe