The latest Covid variants, dubbed ‘FLiRT’, are sweeping the country after mutating the virus in a way that evades the human immune system.
He Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) detected KP.1.1 and KP.2 variants in wastewater sampling, and found that the latter accounted for about a quarter of new Covid cases last month.
But an infectious diseases doctor has now told DailyMail.com that these new mutations, which alter the coronavirus’ ‘spike proteins’, also appear to make the pandemic disease less able to penetrate and infect human cells.
This counterintuitive advantage has medical professionals warning of an impending wave of Covid this summer, which should make these sneakier, but less infectious, strains of the virus more common.
An infectious diseases doctor told DailyMail.com that new mutations in the coronavirus’ ‘spike proteins’ have made a new variant of the pandemic disease less able to penetrate and infect human cells. Above, a 3D model of covid-19 with its infamous spike proteins (red)
That doctor, Tom Russo, said pregnant women and others may want to wear a mask in crowded, poorly ventilated indoor environments this summer. Above, a resident of Snellville, Georgia, shops at a local supermarket while wearing a protective face mask last month, April 2024.
This apparent contradiction of the FLiRT variants can be compared to a weapon that is less dangerous than a pistol, but more capable of avoiding a metal detector.
“That’s a reasonable analogy,” Dr. Thomas Russo, a professor at the University at Buffalo, told DailyMail.com.
“Once they evade those defenses, their capacity, their contagiousness, is not as great as some of the previous variants.”
“But it is evident that the ability to evade our defenses is sufficient and increases in proportion,” he said.
The CDC websites show that as of April 27, infections are likely to increase in two places: Texas and Puerto Rico.
However, most of the United States showed a decline or is likely to decline in status.
The CDC compared March and April and found that there was a -11.1 percent drop in hospital admissions due to Covid.
Only three percent of the US population tested positive in the last week.
However, the FLiRT variants are still new and the data may change over time.
Dr. Russo has predicted that the United States will see some cases, along with some “bad outcomes.”
The CDC websites show that as of April 27, infections are likely to increase in two places: Texas and Puerto Rico. However, most of the US showed a decline or is likely to decline in status.
“It will primarily occur in those people who are most at risk, who we’ve always talked about,” he explained, “our seniors, the immunocompromised, and those who had significant underlying comorbidities.” [i.e. preexisting conditions].’
He noted that pregnant women and those with young children may also want to be alert and wear a mask in crowded, poorly ventilated indoor environments this summer.
“Until now, Covid has not been a seasonal winter virus,” Dr. Russo emphasized, “it has occurred year-round.”
“We’ve seen some waves in the summer, particularly in the southern states, where it’s hot and people are indoors with air conditioning, where the virus spreads well.”
“I suspect we are going to have an attack of erectile dysfunction [Emergency department] ‘Visits, hospitalizations and deaths this summer,’ he predicted, ‘probably driven by KP.2 and KP. 1.1, which is actually a sibling. It’s very closely related.’
While it’s true that new Covid cases and hospitalizations have been trending downward since early 2024, researchers have also seen bumps in that downward slope that indicate an approaching wave of FLiRT variants.
Data scientist Jay Weiland, who has earned a reputation for accurately predicting Covid trends, created a worrying graph that extrapolates where KP.2 and KP.1.1 could be headed based on samples of Covid virus strains found in waters. residual or sewage.
Weiland’s model predicted that cases could begin to rise again in late May.
Data scientist Jay Weiland, who has a reputation for accurately predicting Covid trends, created a worrying graph that extrapolates where KP.2 and KP.1.1 could be headed based on wastewater data. His model predicts cases could start rising again in late May.
Above, residents of the Benton House assisted living home north of Atlanta, Georgia, masked during a 2021 coronavirus pandemic wave.
Dr Russo, who also teaches medical students at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center, told DailyMail.com that the decline in the number of people receiving Covid booster shots and an overall decline in immunity is likely they also helped FLiRT variants thrive.
“Most people did not receive the updated formulation of the vaccine this fall,” Dr. Russo said, “and those who did, at this point, are facing waning immunity.”
“In addition to a variant that is more ‘immunoinvasive,’ he said, ‘we are also going to have a larger portion of the population that has increasing susceptibility.”
According to researchers from Japan and the United Kingdom, who were among the first to characterize the KP.2 strain in April, the new Covid mutation has at least “three substitutions” in its “spike protein” compared to the more competitive strain of the winter, the JN. 1.
These spike proteins, like microscopic hooks on the outside of the virus, help Covid penetrate and infect human cells, especially the spike proteins unique to the most infectious strains of Covid.
But these spike proteins have also been the key identification marker used in vaccines to help the human immune system identify and attack the virus within the body.
The FLiRT Covid variants’ unusual new spike protein has helped disguise it from immune systems, giving KP.2 and KP.1.1 “increased viral fitness,” as the Japanese and British researchers wrote, preparing it to become the “predominant lineage throughout the world.”
Their study, which is still under peer review, is available as a preprint from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. bioRxivhelping other researchers gather more concrete information about new mutations.
ONS data on Covid infections today shows that more than 80 per cent of Brits suffer from a runny nose when infected. Loss of taste or smell, one of the original telltale signs of the virus, accounts for just under a fifth of all recorded symptoms.
“At this time, we do not have any data to suggest that KP.2 or its sister KP 1.1 causes more or less severe disease and JN.1,” Dr. Russo said.
«All of these Omicron variants have generally caused less severe illness than their predecessors: the original Wuhan strain and the alpha and delta variants.
“But the fact that that’s what’s happening now doesn’t really guarantee that it can’t change in the future,” added the doctor, whose research focuses specifically on infectious diseases.
Dr Russo has advised that any particularly susceptible members of the public get their free Covid boosters for last winter’s JN.1 variant, which is very similar to KP.2 and KP.1.1.
“The CDC approved a second vaccine for that high-risk population and our seniors,” he told DailyMail.com.
Others who want to help “flatten the curve” of this summer wave should also get booster shots, he suggested.
Crowded, poorly ventilated indoor venues, he said, will be the most likely to become super-spreader events this summer, in what will hopefully be one of the mildest and most conclusive waves of the Covid era.
“So, I’m here in Buffalo and we have these old-school bars that are like the first floors of old houses with no ventilation, right?” Said Dr. Russo, to cite an example.
“People come there, you know, to see a [Buffalo] Bills [football] game or a Sabers [hockey] game or whatever,” he said. “You have to be careful with that, if you run a high risk.”