The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the subvariant omicron strain of the corona virus as a "variant of interest" because it is spreading at an increasing speed.
JN.1 has been found in many countries around the world, including India, China and America.
The risk to public health is currently low, and existing vaccines still provide protection, the WHO said.
However, they warn that the number of people suffering from covid and other infections may increase during the winter.
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The number of people suffering from respiratory viruses such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumonia in children is also increasing in the northern hemisphere.
The viruses that cause covid are constantly changing over time, which sometimes leads to the emergence of new variants.
Omicron has been the dominant strain in the world for some time now.
WHO is currently monitoring several omicron-related variants of interest, including JN.1, but none of them are of concern.
JN.1 is currently the fastest-spreading variant in America, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and this variant is responsible for 15 to 29 percent of infections.
The British Health Insurance Agency said that JN.1 currently accounts for seven percent of positive covid tests analyzed in the laboratory, and that it will continue to monitor all available data on this and other variants.
Winter growth
JN.1 is spreading rapidly in all parts of the world probably because it has additional spike protein mutations compared to the BA.2.86 variant, which preceded it.
"It is expected that this variant may lead to an increase in the number of people suffering from the corona virus amid an increase in other viral and bacterial infections, especially in countries entering the winter period," the WHO risk assessment states.
The WHO also states that there is little data on the extent to which JN.1 is able to circumvent the immunity provided by vaccines.
There are no reports of people infected with this variant being more ill than those infected with previous strains.
However, additional research is needed, according to the WHO, as more countries report that the number of hospitalized covid patients has decreased dramatically.
In order to prevent infection and a more severe form of the disease, the WHO advises:
- Wear a mask in closed, crowded areas
- Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze
- Wash your hands regularly
- Get vaccinated against covid and flu, especially if you belong to the vulnerable category
- Stay home if you are sick
- Get tested if you have symptoms
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