23 May 2024 , 06:58
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Health experts have raised concerns over a summer spike in Covid cases as new strains of the virus are spreading globally four-and-a-half years after the pandemic began.
The coronavirus continues to mutate from its earlier strains with a rise in variants dubbed FLiRT by scientists in the US and Europe. The latest grouping is descended from the previously dominant JN.1 variant, itself an offshoot of omicron.
Researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have said that the new stains appear to have independently picked up the same set of mutations, but there is little evidence that they are more severe than their predecessors. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention report that the current dominant strain in the US is now KP.2 which accounted for 28.2% of all cases in the two weeks to May 11.
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The latest grouping is descended from the previously dominant JN.1 variant, which itself an offshoot of omicron variant of Covid-19 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)This is a significant increase from 3.8% at the end of March shortly after researchers first discovered the new strain. Another FLiRT variant, KP.1.1 has also risen to account for 7.1% of current infections, the agency said.
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Cases are also increasing in Europe with the new variant now detected in 14 countries. Cases remain limited in all reporting countries, the World Health Organisation said earlier this month, but there were “slight increases in detections from very low levels” in individual countries.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was monitoring data on the progress of the new variant in the UK and abroad. The agency said it was keeping an eye on the severity of the new strains and the ongoing effectiveness of vaccines.
“There is no change to the wider public health advice at this time,” the UKHSA said in an update last week. A major wave of infections seems unlikely, health professionals said - with a low risk of a return to the early days of the pandemic when public immunity was lower.
However a new uptick in the number of cases is likely in the US over the next few months, said Jennifer Horney, professor of epidemiology at the University of Delaware. “While our idea of what a wave of COVID-19 infections looks like has changed over the course of the pandemic, it is likely that these new strains will cause increases in the number of cases in the US over the next few months,” Horney told CNBC.
“Many will be mild, based on our existing immunity and not the changes to the circulating strain,” she said. Experts will still be keeping a close watch on the new strains to monitor the effectiveness of the current vaccines and next month the vaccines advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration is due to meet to discuss recommendations for the variant mix for this winter’s Covid-19 vaccine.