“Covid variant Kp.3.1.1 is about to become dominantposing a greater challenge to our immune response than Kp.3 and previous variants (especially without the new booster against Kp.2 when we need it for people at high risk).” This is underlined by the American scientist Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, commenting on X the new data from the genomic surveillance of Covid-19 cases in the United States.
In Italy it caused 3 out of 10 cases in July
But the Covid variant KP.3.1.1, daughter of KP.3 which in turn descends from JN.1, also runs in Italy. If in June the new Sars-CoV-2 mutant was responsible for almost a fifth of the infections recorded in our country (18.7%, a leap compared to 1.9% in May), in July it seems to have risen to over 31%. More than 3 out of 10 cases would therefore be attributable to KP.3.1.1.
“Preliminary data relating to the month of July 2024 (as of July 29) – we read in the monitoring of the Ministry of Health-Istituto Superiore di Sanità control room – highlight the co-circulation of different sub-variants of JN.1 under international attention. Among these, the proportion of sequencing attributable to the KP.3.1.1 lineage is growing (31.5% in July), subject to international monitoring (Vum), characterized by the deletion of the serine residue in position 31 of the Spike protein”.
Maggi (Spallanzani): “More transmissible but mild symptoms”
“The increase in Covid cases in recent weeks is a phenomenon expected in the evolutionary trajectory of the virus which continues its race underground towards the finish line of definitive adaptation to humans. This increase is due to the new variant” of Sars-CoV-2, “the KP.3.1.1, which shows increased transmission capacity and some resistance to neutralizing antibodiesboth those derived from previous infections and those induced by vaccines”, underlines Fabrizio Maggi, director of the UOC Virology and Biosafety Laboratories of the Inmi Lazzaro Spallanzani Irccs in Rome. “The new variant emerged as a result of these ‘favorable’ mutations that allowed it to spread rapidly and become dominant. However – specifies the expert – Its main symptoms are generally mild and similar to those of a cold or mild flu.“.
“In fact – explains Maggi – the hybrid immunity present in the population and the ever-increasing adaptation of the virus to the human host represent important factors in the progressive attenuation of the symptoms. However – he recommends – it is always important to monitor the symptoms and, if necessary, consult a doctor, especially in the case of elderly subjects with serious concomitant pathologies or immunocompromised”.
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