What is the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus spreading across several countries, including the U.S.? Is it a descendant of Omicron, and how deadly is it?
A subvariant of the
coronavirus
, JN.1, is currently spreading in many countries, including the United States, and has raised concerns among health authorities, as per reports.
JN.1 is a variant of the
Omicron BA.2.86
lineage, a virus variant that was first discovered in August 2023, as per Mint.
How is JN.1 Different from BA.2.86?
According to the report,
Johns Hopkins Medicine
has pointed out that this variant 'has acquired the ability to transmit efficiently through an additional one or two mutations." Johns Hopkins Medicine also found that JN.1 contains about 30 mutations to evade the immunity, which was higher than any other variant circulating at that time, as per Mint.
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Does JN.1 Spread More Easily?
However, the BA.2.86 variant of coronavirus has not dominated among the group of SARS-CoV-2 variants that were spread in the air in 2023, according to Mint. Even with the
immune evasion
of its parent, JN.1 now mutated to transmit and has spread more efficiently, reported Mint.
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Yale Medicine highlighted that, 'A difference between BA.2.86 and JN.1 is that the latter has one mutation in its spike protein, a single change that may or may not alter any of the traits that characterise the virus, although preliminary research shows that it may provide extra immune evasion,' according to the report.
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What Symptoms Does JN.1 Cause?
JN.1's symptoms are similar to other variants of coronavirus, like dry cough, loss of taste or smell, headache, runny or clogged nose, exhaustion, sore throat, and fever among others, as per Mint. While, Johns Hopkins, discovered that there are chances that JN.1 may be causing more diarrhoea than the other variants, and other symptoms might include fatigue and exhaustion, as per the report.
FAQs
When was JN.1 first detected?
It was first identified in August 2023, as per Mint.
What makes JN.1 different from previous variants?
It has about 30 mutations that may help it escape immune responses and a key spike protein mutation that could enhance this ability.
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