ISLAMABAD:
The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Wednesday issued an advisory for the prevention and control of JN.1 sub-variant of the Covid-19 virus.
According to NIH, the objective of the advisory was to alert and facilitate the health authorities and other stakeholders to ensure timely prevention and control measures encompassing preparedness to deal with such patients in future.
The advisory said that JN.1 is classified as a Variant of Interest (VOI) and fundamentally an offshoot of BA.2.86 sub-variant of the omicron variant.
Initially reported in mid-2023 by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), JN.1 has witnessed a surge in reported cases across various countries in recent weeks, indicating its rapid global spread.
This rapid growth is observed across the three World Health Organisation (WHO) regions with consistent sharing of SARS-CoV-2 sequences. These regions include the Americas, the Western Pacific and the European regions, with the largest increase seen in Western Pacific from 1.1% in epidemiological week 44 to 65.6% in epidemiological week 48.
The WHO last month classified the JN.1 coronavirus strain as a VOI and said current evidence shows risk to public health was low from the strain.
Experts said that while the strain can evade the immune system and transmit more easily than other currently circulating variants, it has not shown any signs of more severe disease.
While there might be more cases with the variant, JN.1 doesn’t pose a greater risk, said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
JN.1 was previously classified as a VOI as part of its parent lineage BA.2.86, but WHO has now classified it as a separate variant of interest.
WHO said current vaccines will continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of the Covid-19 virus.
With additional input from Reuters
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