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New COVID-19 variant called FLiRT

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A new set of COVID-19 variants, nicknamed FLiRT, has been detected in wastewater surveillance, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From April 14 through April 27, the variant, labeled KP.2, makes up about 25% of the cases in the United States, according to the CDC. That makes it the new dominant variant in the country, overtaking JN.1. The JN.1 variant, which spread globally over the winter, made up 22% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. in the same two-week span.

KP.1.1, another FLiRT variant that is circulating, made up about 7.5% of COVID-19 cases in that two-week span, according to CDC data.

 

Megan L. Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told WebMD that FLiRT has some concerning features, like changes in the spike protein, which play a role in helping SARS-CoV-2 colonize the body and make people sick.

According to the CDC, only 22.6% of adults reported having received an updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine since September 2023. Data also shows that vaccination coverage increased by age and was highest among adults 75 and older.

“We’ve got a population of people with waning immunity, which increases our susceptibility to a wave,” Thomas A. Russo, chief of infectious disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo, told WebMD. (USA today)

The post New COVID-19 variant called FLiRT appeared first on DailyNews.

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