Nearly Half of U.S. COVID-19 Cases Now Caused by JN.1 Variant

THURSDAY, Dec. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The JN.1 variant, a descendant of the variant BA.2.86, now accounts for 44 percent of COVID-19 cases, up from roughly 7 percent in late November, the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

The speed at which the JN.1 variant has spread this month suggests it may spread more easily and be better at evading immune systems than other circulating variants, according to a recent CDC report. "It is too early to know whether or to what extent JN.1 will cause an increase in infections or hospitalizations," the CDC said in its report.

Luckily, JN.1 does not seem to be causing more severe illness yet. Additionally, the updated COVID-19 vaccines that were released in September produce antibodies that work against JN.1, which is distantly related to the XBB.1.5 variant the tweaked vaccines target.

Despite the fact that JN.1 may not cause more severe disease than other variants, hospitalizations have started creeping up recently. For the week of Dec. 10, there were just under 26,000 COVID-19-linked hospitalizations, a 10 percent increase from about 23,000 hospitalizations the week before. However, those numbers are still far lower than they were during the peak of the tripledemic last winter, when COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus cases all surged simultaneously.

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