The new variant of coronavirus known as JN.1 has been spreading in 40 countries across the globe. It was identified in August 2023 for the first time. The World Health Organization (WHO) already classified it as a variant of concern due to its transmissibility. The JN.1 variant is lineage of Omicron and it contains an extra L455S mutation in the spike protein, which makes it more contagious. So far the symptoms of infection linked to JN.1 have been limited to upper respiratory tract infections such as sore throat, runny nose, cough, body pain, and fever, however, health officials in the UK have identified two new symptoms linked to the new sub-variant. which are trouble sleeping and anxiety.
As per the recent data from the UK’s winter COVID report, more than 10 percent of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection linked to the JN.1 strain have reported suffering from anxiety or excess uneasiness and trouble sleeping. The data has shown that around 10.5 percent of new COVID patients have reported having anxiety and 10.8 percent of them have reported suffering from trouble sleeping. Only 2 to 3 percent of them have reported having loss of smell and taste. Health experts say that whether an individual deals with some or all of these symptoms depends on each person’s overall health and immunity to the pathogen.
These findings have surfaced at a time when the entire world is juggling with a sudden rise in COVID-19 infections all over again. The data from the WHO shows that the worldwide count of new COVID-19 infections has shot up by 52 percent in the last month. The WHO has also reported an increase in COVID-related hospitalization, ICU admissions, and mortality across the world. India has recently reported more than 636 fresh cases of coronavirus and three fatalities in a day. A sum of 312 COVID-19 infections linked to sub-variant JN.1 have been found in the country so far and nearly 47 percent of them have been identified in Kerala.
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