India’s first case of JN. 1, the newly detected sub-variant of coronavirus, was found in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
The case was detected on December 8 in an RT-PCR positive sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram district, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General of the ICMR, said.
The patient is a 79-year-old woman with mild Influenza-like symptoms. The doctors said that she had fully recovered from her illness.
The cases of the JN.1 Covid-19 variant have been on the rise worldwide. According to health experts, the majority of these cases are clinically mild and most of them recover without heavy medication.
Here’s all you need to know about the JN.1 variant of Coronavirus:
- This JN.1 variant is causing a surge in infections worldwide and raising alarm bells among health authorities.
- Earlier, an Indian traveller was also detected with JN.1 sub-variant in Singapore.
- The JN.1 sub-variant — first identified in Luxembourg and has since spread to several countries.
- It is a descendant of the Pirola variant (BA.2.86).
- The case was first detected in the US in September this year.
- 7 cases of the specific subvariant were found in China on December 15.
- Cases of the JN.1 variant have so far been detected in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.
- There is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein, CDC said.
- According to the CDC, vaccinations targeting the spike protein of a virus should also function against JN.1 and BA.2.86.
- It contains a significant number of unique mutations, particularly in the spike protein.
- A majority of these cases are clinically mild and the patients are recovering on their own at their homes, without any treatment.
- Fever, runny nose, sore throat, headache, and minor gastrointestinal problems are among some of the common symptoms of the JN.1 variant.
JN.1 Variant: Show You Be Worried?
“India is keeping a vigil and that’s the reason no hospitalisation or severe disease has been reported so far,” quoted news agency ANI to INSACOG Chief, NK Arora.
Rajeev Jayadevan, the National Indian Medical Association Covid Task Force’s co-chairman shared insight with ANI, “After a seven-month gap, cases are rising in India. In Kerala, there are reports of people getting Covid, but the severity so far appears to be the same as before.”
Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Sunday said the COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 that has been detected in the state was not a cause for concern.
“There is no need for any concern. It’s a sub-variant. It was just found here. Months ago, this variant was detected in a few Indians who were screened at the Singapore Airport. It’s just that Kerala has identified the variant here through genome sequencing. There is no need to worry. The situation is being closely monitored,” she said.
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