Although the new sub-variant of Covid-19 JN 1 has so far not shown any unusual or severe signs of infection, in Pune, health authorities have said that surveillance measures are underway. “We have issued instructions to screen any suspected person with flu-like symptoms and send the sample to the National Institute of Virology,” Dr Bhagwan Pawar, Chief medical officer, of Pune Municipal Corporation said. “There are 19 civic-run hospitals and 54 dispensaries. We have instructed officers to keep a close watch,” Dr Pawar said. Across private hospitals too, there has been a rise in cases of influenza. “While there has not been a major rise in Covid cases so far, there has been an increase in cases with flu-like symptoms in the OPD. However, there are not many hospital admissions. For instance, daily there are 10-15 cases of influenza who have symptoms like sore throat, body ache, fever, and cough. Tests have picked up influenza A (H1N1) virus (swine flu),”Dr Ameet Dravid, infectious diseases specialist at Noble Hospital said. He, however, appealed that it was imperative to remain vigilant as new information surfaces and the medical community continues to study the variant. Masking up and social distancing help in keeping any unknown virus at bay, says Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman, national Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid task force. “One has to take a nuanced approach when an all-new variant like JN 1 is in circulation. For instance, in a crowded, indoor, ill-ventilated setting, wearing a mask is a good idea, at least until the present surge dies down. However, it is not necessary while walking alone on the beach,” he adds. Dr Jayadevan also pointed out that in countries where genomic sequencing is done frequently, a rapid rise in the prevalence of JN 1 has been recorded. “It is being closely followed, because this variant is vastly different from any other variant that existed before. Note that the dominant variants of the recent past were all minor variations of the ones that existed before them, and hence the extra concern about JN 1,” he said. Dr Anu Raghunathan, senior principal scientist, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Chemical Laboratory, said that it was still too early to say definitively how JN 1 will impact the pandemic. “More research is needed to understand the full extent of its transmissibility, immune evasion, and severity. We need to monitor the situation closely, continue surveillance and testing for symptomatic people and adapt our response as needed,” Dr Raghunathan says. Dr R R Gangakhedkar, former head of epidemiology and communicable diseases of the Indian Council of Medical Research, cautions against panic, saying there is no evidence that this sub-variant increases hospitalisation and deaths. “It is important, however, to exercise caution, especially for people with chronic co-morbidities. They should protect themselves,” he adds. Only 1 in 9 Indians with symptoms taking RT-PCR test: survey To understand whether people are getting tested and why many are reluctant to get a test done, LocalCircles, community social media platform, conducted a survey from November 20 – December 18. The survey received over 24,000 responses from citizens located in 303 districts of India. The study indicates that with COVID JN 1 variant rising globally and a few cases reported in India, the risk of late identification in communities is high. “This is largely because people despite Covid symptoms are not undertaking a RT-PCR test with just 1 in 9 doing so per the survey. The risk becomes high if the new JN 1 variant causes severe disease in some individuals especially senior citizens or those with comorbidities. If that is observed, the Government should consider testing all arriving passengers from countries with high caseloads as well as providing free Covid testing at multiple locations in every district,” says Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles.
