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A new covid variant has landed in the US, gaining momentum worldwide
The World Health Organization announced last week that it is monitoring the NB.1.8.1 variant following an increase in cases in several regions of the world, including Europe, Southeast Asia, North and South America.
This variant is believed to be more contagious than the dominant strain Lp.8.1 worldwide. This means it could drive cases this summer.
However, it does not appear to be far better than LP.8.1 in circumventing vaccines or protection from previous infections. And the WHO has not found evidence that it leads to more serious illnesses, so the agency has determined that it does not pose an additional health risk.
“Tracking is important, but at least in the US, there are no signs that the Covid-19 incident could drive a massive surge,” said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Federal and state health officials regularly monitor Covid strains to identify potential changes in viral behavior and notify you of vaccine updates. The strain that has been dominant in the US since late 2021 is a version of the omicron mutant, which generally causes similar symptoms. NB.1.8.1 is part of that lineage.
Covid vaccines are renewed each fall to suit the circulation system well, but eligibility may be limited to older people and young people with medical conditions this year.
Infectious disease doctors said NB.1.8.1 could lead to a slight surge in infectious diseases for two reasons. For some time, the US said it is likely that the immunity of the population has declined as fewer than a quarter of adults have not received the latest booster.
“Unfortunately, we may come back with a bit of revenge and hope that doesn’t happen. But we’re worried that we’re setting it up with this combination of factors,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, the university’s infectious disease chief at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine.
Dr. Scott Roberts, the Associate Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Yale School of Medicine, usually twice a year in the summer and winter (up twice in the summer and winter).
“I think I’ll go ahead and lead to a summer rise, probably mild to moderate,” he said of NB.1.8.1.
A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been fewer than 20 sequences of NB.1.8.1 reported in the US so far. This means that variants are not as popular as they appear on CDC dashboards. It lists variants that make up more than 1% of nationwide community cases over two weeks.
The Arizona Department of Health Services said it identified three variant samples from late April to early May through routine surveillance. NB.1.8.1 has also been detected on Rhode Island, according to the state health department. Cleveland Clinic said it had detected several cases in Ohio.
“We’re not yet able to see whether we’ve built a foothold in this country and whether it will become our new dominant variant,” Russo said.
Today, the variant is dominant in China and has been spreading rapidly since the beginning of the year. By late April, nearly 11% of the genetic sequences submitted to the global virus database called GiSaid had increased from 2.5% that month.
Meanwhile, according to WHO, Lp.8.1 has not been that common since mid-April.
The new variant is called NB.1.8.1. It arrives as the official US stance on Covid-19 vaccination is changing.
A non-peer-reviewed preprint study found that NB.1.8.1 has more “future domination potential” than other circulating variants due to additional mutations that could lead to more infectiousness.
Roberts said those who have not been vaccinated or have not had COVID for a while should get a booster now. NB.1.8.1 is the cousin of JN.1 (the current targeted variant of boosters), so the vaccine needs to be protected to some extent.
The Food and Drug Administration has asked pharmaceutical companies to update their covid vaccines this fall to target the LP.8.1 variant. Pfizer and Moderna data suggest that the updated vaccine also provides protection against NB.1.8.1.
However, the FDA says it will limit approval for the latest Covidshot to older people and younger people with conditions that are at risk of severe illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday also suspended COVID vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.
“I have never seen substantial new data to guide these decisions,” Roberts said.
Doctors said they are worried that due to these changes, pregnant people under the age of 5 and their children are vulnerable to the serious consequences of Covid this winter. And even healthy adults who have been vaccinated before may not have optimal protection, Russo said.
“For those who have received one shot, two shots or three shots, yes, that’s better than no shots,” he said. “But we know that our immunity is declining and that the virus is evolving.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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