With cases of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 on the rise across several countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday designated it as a “variant of interest” separate from its ancestor BA.2.86 that is commonly referred to as Pirola.
“Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86,” said a statement from the inter-government body. It was previously considered to be a VOI as a part of Pirola sub-lineages.
WHO maintained that there was no evidence to suggest any additional public health risk posed by the variant. “Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries,” the statement said. It also said that the current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death due to JN.1.
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A variant is designated as VOI by WHO if it shows a growth advantage over other circulating variants — meaning its proportion increases along with any increase in the total number of cases. A variant can be designated as VOI also if it is predicted to or known to change characteristics such as transmissibility, virulence, antibody evasion, or susceptibility to therapies and diagnostics.
Once designated as VOI, the WHO monitors and tracks its global spread. The body also keeps assessing its public health risk and facilitate sharing of isolates. Member states have to report cases of VOI, monitor it, and conduct field investigations to study the potential impact of the variant.
India has so far recorded at least one case of JN.1 from Kerala and around 15 cases from Goa.
Globally, cases of JN.1 have been reported from the US, some European countries, Singapore and China. Pirola and its descendants accounted for 17% of the sequences uploaded to the global database GISAID by December 2, with more than half the sequences being JN.1, as per a previous statement by WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 vaccine composition.
Singapore has recorded 56,043 cases between December 4 and 10. It also saw an increase in hospitalisation, mostly among those above 60 years. “Cases infected by JN.1 currently account for the vast majority of Covid-19 cases in Singapore.” In the US, JN.1 accounted for 15% to 29% of the circulating Covid-19 variants.
Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme.Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports.Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan.She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times.When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. … Read More