New Delhi: The FLiRT Covid variant cases has reportedly crossed 300 mark in India. Reportedly, 290 cases of KP 2 and 34 cases of KP1 have been found in India. These two variants along with some other variants are collectively called FLiRT.
The new KP.2 Covid-19 variant appears to be more transmissible, but is not virulent, said doctors amid reports of 91 cases being detected in Maharashtra.
KP.1.1, and KP.2 strains are part of the new variant dubbed FLiRT, based on the technical names for their mutations, one of which includes the letters “F” and “L”, and another of which includes the letters “R” and “T”.
The doctor advised people who are immunocompromised to take precautions such as masking, avoiding crowded closed spaces, and keeping comorbidities under control.
FLiRT variants belong to the Omicron lineage, which was highly transmissible and showed great immune escape.
First identified globally in January, KP.2 is a descendant of Omicron’s JN.1.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that KP.2 accounted for about 25 per cent of new sequenced cases in the country in the last weeks of April. The symptoms of the new variant typically include a sore throat, runny nose, congestion, tiredness, fever (with or without chills), headache, muscle pain, and sometimes loss of taste or smell.
KP.2 has replaced the previously circulating JN.1 variant and is now driving cases in several countries, including the US, UK, and Canada.