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This is an archive article published on August 21, 2024
New Covid variant KP.3.1.1 swamps US: Is India at risk of infection?
The variant is already in circulation in India but has not caused severe symptoms or hospitalisation.
An updated vaccine for the 2024-25 respiratory infection season will be available in the fall. (File/ Representational Photo)
The US is currently witnessing a swamp of COVID-19 cases, with the KP.3.1.1 variant of Omicron being the dominant strain in circulation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The variant accounts for nearly 37 per cent of sample sequences as per data. What’s concerning is that laboratory studies have shown lower protection against the variant in people who have had previous infections or been vaccinated.
The CDC has, therefore, recommended that vulnerable people — such as those over the age of 65 years or those with weakened immune systems — should get a shot of last year’s version of the vaccine. An updated vaccine for the 2024-25 respiratory infection season will be available in the fall.
Is India at risk of infections from this variant?
Data from the limited sequencing carried out by the country’s network of COVID-19 genomic surveillance labs shows that the variant is already in circulation in India. KP.x — which includes KP.3.1.1 and its relatives such as the FLiRT variant or KP.2 — account for nearly 39 per cent of all COVID-19 sequences samples in India collected in the last week of July, according to data from INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium).
By August, JN.1 became the dominant variant being sequenced. The proportion of KP.x samples being sequenced has, in fact, reduced from 100 per cent during mid-June.
When it specifically comes to KP.3.1.1, there have only been two samples sequenced in June and July respectively, the data shows. A senior scientist, on condition of anonymity, said, “KP.x variants have been in circulation in India for a couple of months now but there hasn’t been any significant change in clinical presentation. We would be worried if a particular variant was causing more severe symptoms and hospitalisation. But that hasn’t happened.” The scientist, however, pointed to limited testing that is happening in the country.
What is the testing status in India?
With COVID-19 no longer leading to severe disease in most people, most do not get tested for the infection routinely. This has led to very few samples being sent to Insacog laboratories.
Only 222 sequences were sent for sampling to INDSACOG in June, one in July, and 347 in August. Most of the samples in August were sent by a laboratory in Gujarat, the data shows. To compare, the laboratory network has sequenced thousands of sequences in a month at the height of the pandemic.
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Why is surveillance the need of the hour?
Even as the severity of the COVID-19 infection has gone down — and is likely to remain so — there is a need to maintain surveillance just in case a more virulent variant emerges. This will help in preparing, if needed, for more hospitalisation or care.
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