Cases of the JN.1 Covid strain have been ramping up in recent months. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new variant has cemented itself as the most common strain of the virus spreading across the US.
Furthermore, cases of JN.1 are also going up in the UK, as well as China and India. While it isn’t currently clear whether JN.1 infections produce different symptoms from other variants, the CDC explained that “the types of symptoms and how severe they are usually depend more on a person’s immunity and overall health rather than which variant causes the infection”.
However, evidence is emerging showing that people are reporting slightly different Covid symptoms. The latest data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics indicates the most commonly reported symptoms among those with COVID-19 include:
- Runny nose (31.1 percent)
- Cough (22.9 percent)
- Headache (20.1 percent)
- Weakness or tiredness (19.6 percent)
- Muscle ache (15.8 percent)
- Sore throat (13.2 percent)
- Trouble sleeping (10.8 percent)
- Worry or anxiety (10.5 percent).
While symptoms, including a runny nose and a cough, have been around since 2020, the list includes some new additions, such as trouble sleeping and anxiety. Interestingly, loss of taste and smell – once a tell-tale sign of the virus – is now only reported by two to three percent of infected people in the UK.
The sudden rise of JN.1 cases suggests that the variant is either more transmissible or better at evading immunity. The JN.1 contains a hallmark mutation L455S in its spike protein as well as three other mutations in non-spike proteins.
Previous research has shown that acquiring L455F mutation is associated with increased viral transmissibility and immune evasion ability. Furthermore, new research has warned that JN.1 has the ability to become a dominant variant worldwide.
However, the good news is that the strain doesn’t seem any more aggressive than other variants in circulation. “At this time, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants,” the CDC added.
