What Doctors Want You to Know About NB.1.8.1, the New COVID-19 Variant
The latest iteration of the coronavirus, called NB.1.8.1, is driving cases in several countries.
The variant has been detected in the U.S. Here's what doctors want you to know about the latest iteration of the virus.
New COVID-19 variants have quietly popped up since the start of the pandemic, but there's one in particular that's suddenly getting a lot of attention. It's called NB.1.8.1, and it's reportedly driving a surge of COVID-19 cases in China.
NB.1.8.1 is showing up all over the world, including in the U.S. COVID-19 consistently has spikes in cases each summer, raising questions about whether NB.1.8.1 will fuel another wave. (Currently, COVID-19 infections are spreading in four states, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).) While it's unclear whether this new variant will cause the virus to spread even more, with updated COVID-19 vaccine guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it's normal to want to know what you can do to protect yourself from the virus.
Meet the experts: Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; infectious disease specialist Amesh Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security
Here's the deal with the new COVID variant NB.1.8.1, including symptoms, prevention, and what infectious disease doctors want you to keep in mind now that the vaccine is off the table for many Americans.
The NB.1.8.1 variant is a member of the Omicron family, according to William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. 'It's another cousin,' he says. 'It appears to be quite contagious, but also quite similar to the other Omicron variants that are out there.'
Late last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated NB.1.8.1 as a 'variant under monitoring,' which means that it 'may require prioritized attention and monitoring.' Still, 'it's early days for this variant,' says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.
The NB.1.8.1 has been detected in 22 countries, and cases have increased 2.5% from the previous four weeks. As of now, the variant has been spotted in the Western Pacific region, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
'We're primarily seeing cases in the Pacific Rim and China,' Dr. Russo says. 'There are some cases in the U.S., suggesting that perhaps this variant has a selective advantage.' Dr. Russo notes that the ways that variants can surge are by evading immunity or being more infectious than previous strains. 'The early data suggests that it may be more immune evasive,' Dr. Russo says.
While the WHO points out that NB.1.8.1 is 'growing rapidly compared to co-circulating variants,' the agency also notes that there's no evidence that the variant will cause more health risks compared to the current Omicron variants that are circulating.
'The symptoms are similar to the spectrum of symptoms seen with all versions of COVID-19,' says infectious disease specialist Amesh Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security.
According to the CDC, those may include:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Sore throat
Congestion or a runny nose
New loss of taste or smell
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Dr. Adalja stresses that there's no reason to panic over the NB.1.8.1 variant. 'There is no reason to have any additional concern with this variant vs. others that have risen to dominance in the recent past,' he says.
But federal health officials recently made changes to eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, limiting its availability to certain groups and raising questions about preventing the virus along the way. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, also announced in a video posted on X that the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women—a stark contrast to previous guidance.
'If individuals are high risk for severe disease, they should stay up to date with vaccination,' Dr. Adalja says. 'For lower-risk people, it is important to remember that this is an endemic virus that will always be generating new variants, and each person's risk tolerance will differ.'
But if you have a big event coming up and want to lower the odds of getting sick (or just want to lower the odds of getting sick in general), Dr. Schaffner recommends wearing a mask in crowded indoor settings. Dr. Russo agrees. 'If you want to make every effort to protect yourself, masks are the way to go,' he says.
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