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The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
What is new Covid variant NB.1.8.1? Symptoms as cases confirmed in UK
Covid-19 is once again making headlines more than five years after the initial outbreak, with a new variant confirmed in the UK and in several countries across the globe. The new strain, named NB.1.8.1, now accounts for just over 10 per cent of global infections , with cases now confirmed in Northern Ireland and Wales. While there is no evidence that the new strain causes more severe symptoms, experts believe that it in can infect cells more efficiently and can trigger gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, constipation and nausea. Since first being recognised in January 2025, the omicron variant has spread to several states across the US, Australia, Thailand and is the most dominant variant in China and Hong Kong. What is NB.1.8.1? The World Health Organisation has designated the NB.1.8.1 as a 'variant under monitoring', and comprises around 10.7 per cent of all submitted sequences. A WHO spokesperson said: " SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, and between January and May 2025, there were shifts in global SARS-CoV-2 variant dynamics. At the beginning of the year, the most prevalent variant tracked by WHO at the global level was XEC, followed by KP.3.1.1. "In February, circulation of XEC began to decline while that of LP.8.1 increased, with the latter becoming the most detected variant in mid-March. Since mid-April, the circulation of LP.8.1 has been slightly declining as NB.1.8.1 is increasingly being detected." While it first appeared in samples at the beginning of this year, data from GISAID, a global data of genetic sequences of major disease-causing viruses, show that the first known cases were registered at the end of April. What are the symptoms? While evidence has suggested that NB.1.8.1 may spread more easily than other variants, the WHO has not observed any signs that it has an increase in severity. "Data indicates that NB.1.8.1 does not lead to more severe illness compared to previous variants, although it appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily," Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, told CBS News. "In other words, it is more transmissible." Common symptoms align with typical Omicron subvariants and include fatigue, fever, muscle aches and a sore throat. So far, cases have been recorded in both Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as in popular British tourist hotspots overseas. However, given the dwindling numbers in people testing for Covid-19, it has become increasingly difficult to know the true number of infections. Do the Covid vaccines work against NB.1.8.1? Current Covid jabs are expected to remain effective against this variant and protect anyone infected from severe illness.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
New Covid variant spreading from Asia now surges across US — what is it and where is it spreading
The new Covid variant is continuing to proliferate around the U.S. — although you might not know it by just checking federal variant-tracking dashboards. Known as NB.1.8.1, the omicron variant has been tracked in states across the country following a large surge in China. Although, right now, LP.8.1 — a descendent of JN.1 — is the nation's dominant strain. The Centers for Disease Control is in regular contact with international partners, and is aware of reported NB.1.8.1 cases in China, an agency spokesperson told The Independent. There have been too few U.S. sequences reported thus far for the variant to be included in its dashboard. But, in Asia, it's resulted in increased hospitalizations and emergency room visits. So, what should Americans know about NB.1.8.1, and how worrying is its spread? Here's what to know. What and where is NB.1.8.1? NB.1.8.1 has been designated a SARS-CoV-2 variant under monitoring, with increasing proportions globally, according to the World Health Organization. There are currently six tracked by the agency. It's spread throughout 22 countries. In the U.S., it has been traced to New York, California, Arizona, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to records from local health officials at the CDC's airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks. While still low in numbers, the WHO noted that there had been a significant rise in its prevalence from late March to April. What do we know about related infections? The public health risk posed by this variant is evaluated as low at the global level. 'Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,' the WHO said. But, while it may not be particularly severe, may infect people more easily than previous variants. There is some evidence that the variant binds more tightly to human cells. "Data indicates that NB.1.8.1 does not lead to more severe illness compared to previous variants, although it appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily," Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, told CBS News this week. "In other words, it is more transmissible." Do the Covid vaccines work against NB.1.8.1? Yes, our currently-approved Covid shots are expected to remain effective against this variant and protect against severe disease. However, access to the vaccines is being limited by the Trump administration. On Tuesday, health officials said the Covid vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women had been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule. The Food and Drug Administration said last week that it will continue to approve updates for seniors and Americans with underlying medication conditions. However, it will require vaccine makers to conduct major new clinical trials before approving them for wider use. Although the number of Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths has fallen considerably since the pandemic's start, experts worry about what limiting access to vaccines could do. 'Is the pharmacist going to determine if you're in a high-risk group?' Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Associated Press. 'The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.' For now, people can still get the shots.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
A new Covid variant surging in Asia is now spreading across the US. Here's where it is and what to know
The new Covid variant is continuing to proliferate around the U.S. — although you might not know it by just checking federal variant-tracking dashboards. Known as NB.1.8.1, the omicron variant has been tracked in states across the country following a large surge in China. Although, right now, LP.8.1 — a descendent of JN.1 — is the nation's dominant strain. "CDC is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners," a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CBS News last week. They reportedly noted that too few U.S. sequences have been reported to be included in its dashboard. But, in Asia, it's resulted in increased hospitalizations and emergency room visits. So, what should Americans know about NB.1.8.1, and how worrying is its spread? Here's what to know. What and where is NB.1.8.1? NB.1.8.1 has been designated a SARS-CoV-2 variant under monitoring, with increasing proportions globally, according to the World Health Organization. There are currently six tracked by the agency. It's spread throughout 22 countries. In the U.S., it has been traced to New York, California, Arizona, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to records from local health officials at the CDC's airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks. While still low in numbers, the WHO noted that there had been a significant rise in its prevalence from late March to April. What do we know about related infections? The public health risk posed by this variant is evaluated as low at the global level. 'Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,' the WHO said. But, while it may not be particularly severe, may infect people more easily than previous variants. There is some evidence that the variant binds more tightly to human cells. "Data indicates that NB.1.8.1 does not lead to more severe illness compared to previous variants, although it appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily," Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, told CBS News this week. "In other words, it is more transmissible." Do the Covid vaccines work against NB.1.8.1? Yes, our currently-approved Covid shots are expected to remain effective against this variant and protect against severe disease. However, access to the vaccines is being limited by the Trump administration. The Food and Drug Administration said last week that it will continue to approve updates for seniors and Americans with underlying medication conditions. However, it will require vaccine makers to conduct major new clinical trials before approving them for wider use. Although the number of Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths has fallen considerably since the pandemic's start, experts worry about what limiting access to vaccines could do. 'Is the pharmacist going to determine if you're in a high-risk group?' Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Associated Press. 'The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.' For now, people can still get the shots.
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
New COVID-19 Variant NB.1.8.1 Causes Surge In China, Spreading In U.S.
The NB.1.8.1 variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been ... More detected in international travelers arriving at airports like LAX in Los Angeles. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) Remember COVID-19? That thing that killed around 350 people a week in the U.S. last month and continues to leave many people with long Covid? Remember the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 that's still spreading, mutating, 'varianting' and 'subvarianting' and causing COVID-19? Well, nota bene or N.B., there's a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 in town. It is called the NB.1.8.1 variant, has been causing COVID-19 surges in China, Hong King and Taiwan and is now spreading in the U.S. Each SARS-CoV-2 variant and subvariant is sort of like fidget spinners, those mustache tattoos on the side of finger and cup stacking. They emerge and spread quickly but then are rapidly supplanted by new variants and subvariants that spread faster. Global virus tracking reports from the scientific community that continues to, you know, work together and collaborate worldwide suggest that the XEC variant that I described for Forbes back in December 2024 is largely on its way out, except for in Japan. Meanwhile, LF.7 seems to have gone the way of the TV series NCIS and already lready peaked. Right now the dominant variant in North America, parts of South America, much of Europe and South Africa is LP.8.1. This variant was first detected in September 2024 and by the end of 2024 was spreading around the globe. It has been effectively the variant of this past Winter. This Spring has seen the rise of the XFG variant, a recombinant of the LF.7 and LP.8.1.2 variants. It was first found in Quebec, Canada, in early February, and near the end of that month U.S. testing started detecting the variant. You could say that XFG has been spreading 'extra freaking good' since then. By the end of April, XFG comprised about 10% of all the SARS-CoV-2 samples sequenced in North America and Europe. But the next month or so may turn out to be grudge match or perhaps a race between the XFG and NB.1.8.1 variants. Both have been spreading at similar rates. But they've been doing so in different parts of the world. During the same time period that XFG got a foothold or perhaps a spikehold in North America and Europe, NB.1.8.1 has become the dominant variant in Hong Kong and China. By the end of April, NB.1.8.1 already comprised 5 to 30% of the virus samples sequenced in most other countries. This may be an Alien vs. Predator situation. Each of these two variants has its competitive advantage. NB.1.8.1 seems to connect to human cells more readily than XFG while XFG seems to be able evade immune protection better. Therefore, which variant becomes more dominant where may depend on everyone's prior exposure and vaccination status in that location. The NB.1.8.1 variant has been causing a commotion in China and Hong Kong. It's resulted in emergency room visits and hospitalizations surging higher in those locations than it's been in at least a year. Hong Kong authorities have been urging their resident to wear face masks in crowded public areas. Meanwhile, Taiwan's health authorities have been stockpiling vaccines and antiviral treatments to respond to the NB.1.8.1 -dirven wave that they've seen too. So far, there's no clear indication that NB.1.8.1 is more likely to cause more severe health outcomes than previous SARS-CoV-2 variants. But stay tuned because more studies are needed to get a better handle on what both NB.1.8.1 and XFG can do and which may eventually come out the winner. The U.S. doesn't currently have a organized and comprehensive surveillance system for SARS-CoV-2 since its only had like five years to set one up, right? So, it must rely on incidentally picking up new variants. That will occur if a person chooses to get tested, if that person chooses not to use a home test but instead goes to somewhere connected to a laboratory to get tested, if that laboratory either has the capability of sequencing the genetic material and chooses to do so or send the sample to a laboratory that does such a thing and if the results of the sequencing are reported to public health officials. That's a lot of ifs. Nevertheless, the NB.1.8.1 variant is clearly already in the U.S. It's come up in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's airport screening program among international travelers entering via California, Washington state, Virginia and the New York City area airports. There have been reported NB.1.8.1 cases in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii as well. So once can assume that the NB.1.8.1 has already got a spikehold in American. The COVID-19 vaccines available right now contain either the spike proteins (the Novavax vaccines) from a previous variant or mRNA that codes for these spike proteins (the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines). These updated vaccines were first rolled out last Fall and targeted the KP.2 variant, a descendant of the JN.1 variant. For the vaccines to be available this Fall, there had been talk of either no changes in the vaccines or updating with a more recent variant such as LP.8.1. While the currently available vaccines coudl provide some protection against NB.1.8.1, you'd get better protection with a vaccine targeting LP.8.1 because as a variant that's emerged more recently L.P.8.1 is more similar to NB.1.8.1. So, what else then is the U.S. doing about the NB.1.8.1? How about not a whole lot? Politicians have already politicized the heck out of COVID-19 control measures like face mask use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now talking about rolling back approval of the COVID-19 vaccines to just those over 65 years of age or with at least one chronic medical condition. With immunity from prior vaccination and infection will such rollbacks means that a greater proportion of the population will once again be more vulnerable to the latest circulating variants? At this point, don't expect too much guidance from the federal government as to what to do about the NB.1.8.1 variant or COVID-19 in general, for that matter. Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic first started, the U.S. still does not have a clear long term strategy on how to deal with COVID-19 and long COVID. Don't expect this to change with especially with all the personnel cuts that have been happening at the CDC and National Institutes of Health under the Trump Administration and Elon Musk's DOGE, otherwise known as the Department of Government Efficiency. While SARS-CoV-2 isn't the same threat that it was in 2020 and 2021 in large part because your immune systems is more used to the virus, the virus has not gone away or become harmless no matter what politicians may try to tell you.
Arab News
23-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Karachi hospital reports four COVID-19 deaths amid surprise summer surge
KARACHI: At least four people with underlying health conditions have died of COVID-19 at a major Karachi hospital in the past two weeks, as experts report an unusual spike in infections during the city's peak summer season. All four fatalities occurred at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), where doctors say they are seeing a steady increase in admissions linked to the coronavirus— a trend they describe as 'unexpected' at this time of year. 'In the past two to three weeks, we have seen a significant increase in COVID cases,' Prof. Dr. Syed Faisal Mahmood, a professor of infectious diseases at AKUH, told Arab News, confirming the death of four people during the past two weeks. The surge, he said, was happening in late spring with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that was first detected in late 2019 and declared a global pandemic within months. While the virus typically spreads more easily in colder months due to increased indoor activity and lower humidity, experts say its spread during summer in Karachi is a rare deviation from past seasonal patterns. Mahmood said most infected individuals have been coming to the hospital with mild symptoms, such as sore throat, cough, body aches, and fever, but the virus remains dangerous for older adults and those with weakened immune systems. 'Like in previous years, this year the severe cases of COVID are mostly being seen in people who are older, especially those above 65, or those with weak immune systems,' he said. 'Among these COVID cases, there are some patients who have been hospitalized, and there have also been some deaths,' he added. Mahmood added that while routine testing is no longer required for everyone with symptoms, caution is essential. 'If you suspect that you have COVID or any other cold or cough-related infection, it is better that you wear a mask,' he advised. 'We recommend wearing a mask for at least five to ten days so that others do not get infected.' The infectious diseases expert also urged caution for those in close contact with the elderly. 'If you are caring for someone who is elderly, then please do not visit them if you are feeling unwell, or at least wear a mask,' he said. 'Please take care of yourself, and we hope that there will not be a major further increase in COVID cases.'
