COVID-19 variant JN.1 spreading all over the world, Pakistan is no exception

The world is battling with coronavirus new highly mutated COVID variant “Pirola” JN.1. Covid JN.1 now makes up about 44.1% of COVID-19 cases across the U.S.

Pirola – which is for the BA.2.86 variant may cause common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, throat pain, headache, loose motion and difficulty breathing. However, it’s important to note that the symptoms of JN.1 may overlap with those of other COVID-19 variants.

The WHO stated that, JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks. Globally, EG.5 remains to be the most reported VOI.

JN.1 has a much higher transmissibility rate as compared to Omicron which means the number of people it can reach is much higher than it was for Omicron. Experts say it spreads faster than the other Omicron variants but does not cause more severe disease.

COVID has always caused GI symptoms in some, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Keep an eye out for the usual COVID symptoms, which may include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle/body aches
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Congestion/runny nose

Pakistan’s response to COVID JN.1

Caretaker Provincial Health Minister of Punjab Prof Dr Javed Akram said. That not a single case of COVID JN-1 virus has been reported in Pakistan. However, it is spreading rapidly in the world, so we have taken timely measures and issued orders for testing to find out how much it has spread.

Lahore’s leading pulmonologist Dr Irfan Malik said that there are patients being treated with symptoms found in corona, influenza and RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) as well as patients infected with corona and influenza viruses is increasingly common.

Dr Malik said that the patients who are coming to us at the moment are coming with all the symptoms of Corona, while Pakistan currently does not have the kits to test the new corona virus JN-1, adding, detecting the presence of this virus requires highly sensitive kits, which we (Pakistan) currently do not have on a large scale.