2023-12-19 21:10:00
US health agency We are monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The new strain JN.1 is said to be the new dominant strain of Covid within the next few weeks.
Foreign news agencies reported on December 19, 2023 that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is monitoring the COVID-19 virus. The new strain is called JN.1. It is estimated that more than 20% of new Covid infections in the country are caused by the strain. And it is growing rapidly, especially in the Northeast. which more than 1 in 3 Covid patients are infected with this virus
JN.1 is considered the grandchild of the COVID strain BA.2.86, which gained worldwide attention last summer. Because there were 30 mutations in the spike protein, scientists feared that It mutates so much that it evades protection from vaccines and the body’s immune system. And it could lead to a large-scale outbreak like the Omicron virus did in 2021.
However, this did not happen, but the BA.2.86 virus is still circulating to this day. It has increased slowly in some countries, including the United States, which some studies suggest. It is not as severe as feared because it may have lost some of its ability to communicate with human cells.
BA.2.86 mutated two more times to become JN.1, with only one change in the spike protein from its ancestor. But it appears to be enough to cause it to become an infection that spreads faster than before.
The CDC estimates that the prevalence of JN.1 in the United States more than doubled between late November and mid-December. with the additional factor of traveling during the long Thanksgiving holiday. and the immune system that begins to dilute This is because only 18% of Americans received the latest round of COVID vaccinations.
Scientists monitoring new strains of COVID expect JN.1 to become the next major strain of COVID in the world. “It is clear that This strain is competing fiercely with the existing XBB strain. And it appears to be on the path to becoming the world’s next dominant strain,” said Dr. T. Ryan Gregory of the University of Guelph in Canada.
Meanwhile, studies by researchers at Columbia University and in China suggest that The ability of our antibodies to neutralize this subtype of virus was reduced by about two-fold, which is not considered significant. But it also raises the possibility that it will result in a new wave of outbreaks.
Many European countries, including Denmark, Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands It has seen exponential growth in JN.1 along with an increase in the number of patients requiring hospital treatment. The virus is also growing rapidly in Australia, Asia and Canada.
But a new study from the lab of Dr. David Ho at Columbia University has some good news. The latest COVID vaccine Designed to counter COVID-19, the XBB family provides strong protection against the BA.2.86 strain of COVID-19 and its sub-strains, including JN.1.
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