FLiRTing with New Variants

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has mutated again

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 mutate frequently.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is constantly changing/evolving to stay alive — it changes so it can spread (more) easily from person to person, enter the host (human) cells with more ease, or evade our immune systems.

The new COVID variants, known as the FLiRT variants (KP.2 and a few other KP and JN variants), are the children of the JN.1 variant, which has been the dominant variant since January 2024. All of these variants are part of the Omicron family. The difference between the JN.1 variant and these FLiRT variants is three different point mutations (yes, just three) or changes in the structure of the virus.

Almost the entire global population has some immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (through vaccination, previous infection, or both) and the Omicron variants are becoming less virulent (causing less severe/harmful disease).

If you are diagnosed with COVID — and yes, your home and PCR tests are still effective — there is no way to know if you have the JN.1 variant or one of the FLiRT variants. Genomic sequencing is the only way to determine which variant is causing your illness.

The symptoms of COVID have NOT changed — expect mild cold/flu symptoms.

Paxlovid is still effective at preventing severe disease, especially among those who are at high risk.

At-home tests still work.

And the best way to stop the spread of disease is to stay home and away from others when you are sick. Remain isolated from others for at least 24 hours after your symptoms have gone away.

There is very little reason (if any) to change your level of concern about COVID because of the FLiRT variants. If you are at high risk for severe complications from COVID, you can still get an extra dose of the COVID vaccine (right now — do it quickly), avoid crowded indoor spaces, or wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces. This is the same advice given during respiratory virus season.

Nothing has changed EXCEPT for the fact that there is less disease out there —

• COVID test positivity has plateaued (at 3.1%)

• ER visits for COVID continue to decline (~8% decrease during the past week)

This is REALLY good news.

**Please note — As of May 1, hospitals are not required to report COVID hospital admissions, capacity, or occupancy data through CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). CDC encourages ongoing, voluntary reporting of hospitalization data. Data voluntarily is available at COVID Data Tracker Hospitalizations. The number of hospitalizations reported will be a gross underestimate of actual hospitalizations.

And there is more good(ish) news…

The timing of the FLiRT variants showing up now is perfect in terms of vaccine development. FDA is scheduled to meet on June 5th to determine the make-up of the Fall 2024 COVID vaccine. Detecting these new variants before the meeting and determination of the vaccine make-up will provide FDA with a lot of new information. They will be able to consider whether or not to include the FLiRT variants in the vaccine. It would be suboptimal for a decision about the vaccine make-up to happen first and then new variants to be identified.

Timing of the FLiRTs is perfection!

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Bottomline —

The potential to become sick with COVID still exists (and always will). And we all must continue to follow this recipe for preventing the spread of disease from person to person —

• Practice good hygiene.
  Washing our hands after we use the bathroom, when we get home from school/work/activities, and before we eat. We sneeze into our elbows and cover our coughs. We also bring fresh air into our home whenever possible (the weather has been somewhat cooperative).

• Stay home if you are sick.
  And we should all agree to this — stay home when you are sick. Give yourself time to rest and recover and break the chain of infection. Protect others. And isolate yourself from those you live with. Protect them from getting sick. Remember — you are most contagious (with any disease) when you have symptoms.

The public health community is tracking disease spread — we are watching case positivity, ER visits, the amount of virus in the wastewater, and hospitalizations (though information is limited). If/when there is cause for concern, I will let you know.

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Please share this post with at least one person in your inner circle.

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Epi(demiology) Matters is written by Dr. Becky Dawson, PhD MPH — an epidemiologist, teacher, mom, wife, and dedicated yogi. She is a tenured professor at Allegheny College, Research Director at a community hospital, and an exclusive contributor (all things health & medicine) at Erie News Now (NBC/CBS). Her goal is to create healthy communities for all. She writes Epi Matters — first & foremost because epidemiology does matter (to all of us) and she hopes that each post will help to educate and empower readers to be healthy and create healthy communities.

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