Covid Variant JN.1 Detected In Kerala: All You Need To Know About The Infection

This JN.1 variant is causing a surge in infections worldwide yet again and raising alarm bells among health authorities.

Scientists across the world are worried about a new COVID-19 variant that could be more infectious than previous variants. The JN.1 strain of coronavirus has recently been detected in Kerala. The case was detected in an RT-PCR-positive sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district of the southern state on December 8. The 79-year-old woman had mild symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and has since recovered from Covid. This variant is causing a surge in infections worldwide yet again and raising alarm bells among health authorities.

An Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola is thought to be the COVID JN.1 variant. The case was first detected in the US in September this year. Seven cases of the specific subvariant were found in China on December 15, according to Reuters. "Even though BA.2.86 and JN.1 sound very different because of the way variants are named, there is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein," the CDC said in a recent update.

The spike protein, which is referred to as a "spike" because it resembles small spikes on the virus's surface, plays an important role in the virus' ability to infect humans. According to the CDC, vaccinations targeting the spike protein of a virus should also function against JN.1 and BA.2.86.