The World Health Organization has suggested that countries in the Southeast Asian region, including Bangladesh, monitor and take protective measures against emerging cases of respiratory illnesses, in addition to Covid-19 and its new subvariant JN1 and influenza.
“The Covid-19 virus continues to evolve, replace, and circulate in each and every country in the world. Even though existing evidence suggests that the additional public health threat posed by JN1 is low, we will need to continue to monitor the evolution of those viruses to adapt our response. To achieve this, countries need surveillance and sequencing, and to ensure knowledge sharing,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for Southeast Asia.
The WHO has classified JN1 as a variant of interest following its global spread.
In recent weeks, JN1 has been reported in several countries and its prevalence has increased globally.
Based on the still limited evidence, the additional public health threat posed by JN1 is ultimately considered low globally.
However, Bangladesh has yet to detect some form of JN1 as a component of its surveillance regime.
“Our monitoring of Covid-19 continues. We have discovered cases of the JN1 variant,” Professor Tahmina Shirin, director of the government’s Institute for Epidemiological Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told the Dhaka Tribune.
Even the number of new Covid-19 cases is negligible, he said.
The WHO believes that this variant may lead to a build-up of Covid-19 cases amid a surge in infections from other viral and bacterial infections, especially in countries entering the winter season.
“As others travel and gather for the holiday festivities, spending a lot of time indoors where poor ventilation facilitates the transmission of viruses that cause respiratory illness, they want to take protective measures and seek timely clinical care on the occasion of illness,” said Dr. Khetrapal Singh.
The Regional Director also underlined the importance of vaccination against Covid-19 and influenza, especially for those most at risk.
“All WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccines continue to oppose severe illness and death caused by all variants, including JN1,” he said.
In May this year, following a sustained decline in the trajectory of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and high levels of population immunity against SARS-CoV2, the WHO stated that Covid-19 no longer constituted a public health emergency for foreigners. restlessness.
While great strides have been made in building and strengthening a global formula for detecting and assessing the risks posed by SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19 testing and case reports have declined.
As Covid-19 continues to circulate at peak levels globally, countries want to monitor, sequence and report to manage respiratory diseases well and protect the health of the population, the regional director said.