October 27, 2023: The virus that causes COVID-19 is adapting and the Omicron variant known as BA. 2. 86 has a new mutation called JN. 1, prompting experts to urge us all to be calm but vigilant.
The coronavirus constantly mutates in the face of the increasing wave of antibodies it encounters as our bodies are instructed to fight it off after vaccinations and infections.
The BA. 2. 86 variant raises concerns because of the wide diversity of mutations in its spike protein, Dr. David Ho of Columbia University in New York and his team note in their new lab report published this week in the journal Nature.
These considerations remind us of the time when the first Omicron emerged, they said.
Although COVID surveillance is lower these days, sequences of BA. 2. 86, dubbed Pirola by some scientists, have already been discovered in 28 countries around the world since August.
With so little oversight, experts suspect there are more cases circulating than they have been able to confirm.
With more than 40 new mutations already catalogued, the new mutation called JN. 1 has been discovered in France, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States, among other countries. New derivatives called JN. 2 and JN. 3 are also emerging. .
The virus is evolving, says virus tracker Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, of the State University of Arkansas’ New York Institute of Technology. And “it’s the union. “
We may not know for a few weeks whether the new variants will be linked to a significant increase in COVID cases or how well the immune formula will respond.
“If we had an alert system, I would call it an amber alert,” Rajnarayanan said. “It’s not an urgent red alert at this point, but the orange alert is a wake-up call to remind us that it’s time to pay. “Attention again. “
An Orange Alert
In the same way that people already rely on meteorologists to understand the Earth’s atmosphere and warn of serious events like hurricanes, wildfires, and snowstorms, Rajnarayanan says this is what we’re learning to do for people to tackle infectious diseases in their communities.
In the U. S. , the HV. 1 variant, which is also part of the Omicron group of variants, is leading new COVID infections lately.
And in the war between our bodies and the coronavirus, we’ve already come a long way since the start of the pandemic. There are so many people who have some point of immunity to past infections, vaccines, or both, that scientists tracking wastewater don’t know lately. seeing an increase in COVID-related infections or hospitalizations in the United States.
“But those mutations seem fast,” Rajnarayanan said. It’s also a time to upload more COVID tests and report positive and negative results,” he said.
Scientists are already detecting JN. 1 at U. S. airports, he said.
And if it hasn’t already won an updated vaccine, it would be a very smart concept to approve it, said Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president of Scripps Research and editor-in-chief of Medscape.
This is especially for the elderly or those who are immunocompromised, he said. In the U. S. , vaccines are approved for all age groups 6 months and older. “This will strengthen our immune system, adding cellular immunity, to increase protection. ” he said.
And, of course, preventing infections through public fitness measures will combat all strains of the coronavirus and other respiratory viruses that are circulating lately, in addition to influenza and RSV.
“I think we’re now seeing a transition of the virus,” said Andrew Pekosz, PhD, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “I hope we see this seasonal virus. “
A change, Pekosz said, that may make it less difficult to update the COVID vaccine suite in the same way we update flu vaccines to target circulating strains.
Next Steps
This year, other people are getting the XBB-targeted COVID vaccine, and next year’s updated vaccine could focus solely on some other variant, like the JN. 1 we’re seeing now, for example.
Topol said the coronavirus will continue to look for new tactics to evade our immune reaction and more transmissible ones to keep infecting us again and again. That’s why he’d like to see new vaccines that protect us from what he calls “the ever-changing virus. “”
It calls for nasal vaccines that block the front of the upper respiratory tract, which could prevent infection in a way we haven’t been able to do so far. And a new coronavirus vaccine could target all variants at once, offering more protection. ” If we had a vaccine, nasal or even injectable, that was absolutely resistant to variants, then we wouldn’t have to worry about any of this,” he said.
SOURCES:
David D. Ho, MD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Columbia University, New York.
Nature: “Antigenicity and affinity for SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor BA. 2. 86”.
Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, Associate Professor, New York Institute of Technology, State University of Arkansas, Jonesboro, AR.
Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president, Scripps Research; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape.
Andrew Pekosz, PhD, virologist, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
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