Noah McCrory
The new KP.3 variant has risen to 1 in every 4 new COVID-19 cases across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Friday, now making it the dominant strain of the virus across the country.
KP.3’s Rise Comes as CDC Tracked key metrics The spread of the virus is now beginning to increase. In previous years, there have been peak spikes of the virus around August.
CDC Wastewater Surveillance Data monitored virus levels begin to accelerate in the West. Emergency room visits for COVID-19 have advanced upward in recent weeks for all ages. COVID-19 infections are probably growing in 30 states and territories, the CDC now estimates.
“Very, very similar” to JN.1
KP.3 is now estimated to be overtaking the KP.2 variant, a so-called “FLiRT” strain which this week rose to 22.5% of cases. KP.2 achieved dominance in previous weeks, but its growth has now slowed.
Both KP.3 and KP.2 are “very, very similar” to the JN.1 variant that dominated last winter’s wave of infections.
“When you look at KP.2 and KP.3, they are almost identical to each other, with really a difference between the two,” said Natalie Thornburg, laboratory chief in the CDC’s Division of Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses. Wednesday.
Thornburg was speaking at a Food and Drug Administration meeting debating which strains should be targeted in this fall’s vaccines.
This difference is smaller than previous jumps in the virus, such as when JN.1’s parent – the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant – first appeared last year.
However, KP.2 and KP.3 are also not identical. Early data suggests that KP.3 mutations may be better at evading immunity.
“The JN.1 and KP.2 type viruses are actually on top of each other. And KP.3 is very close, but not quite on top of it,” Thornburg said.
Choosing New COVID-19 Vaccines
The rise of KP.3 comes as the FDA said on Friday it had decided ask for shots this fall it will be upgraded to the JN.1 variant that was dominant earlier this year, effectively refusing a newer formula aimed at the KP.2 variant.
“Yes, we always say we shouldn’t chase strains, but we are paying an incredibly high premium for mRNA vaccines so we can have the freshest vaccines,” the FDA’s Peter Marks said at the meeting.
Modern had introduced data from animal studies suggesting that its injection targeting KP.2 offered similar protection against the newer variants, compared to an injection designed for JN.1. Pfizer’s chance for KP.2 provoked improved antibody responses to JN.1 variants, including KP.3.
“If this evolves further in the fall, we will regret not being a little closer,” Marks said.
But the FDA ultimately decided to pass on the KP.2 shots after the agency’s advisers worried that it might not do a better job of boosting immunity to future strains compared to JN.1.
https www
uol televisão
uol televisao
tudo só
globo rj
www msn
