New coronavirus variant becomes dominant in the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a new variant of the coronavirus is characterized as dominant in the United States, and is a member of FliRT, called KP.2. The nickname was given due to their mutations, but they are still part of the omicron family.

Between the end of April and May 11, the new KP.2 variant saw a considerable increase in new cases, almost 30% compared to the two weeks prior to this period, which recorded 16% of cases among the population.

About the new variant

Journalists from the news outlet CNN Brasil contacted Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency doctor and clinical professor linked to George Washington University. Leana explains that, since the beginning of Covid-19, professionals have been discussing new variants and states that the original strain has been replaced several times.

We can conclude that the current dominant strain is as contagious as the others or even more so, so it is difficult to prevent transmission of the virus. KP.2 may be replacing JN.1 and similar subvariants that predominated in the United States. However, so far, the variant in question does not appear to cause serious illness compared to COVID-19.

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_{New variant of the coronavirus is dominant in the United States (Photo: reproduction/Redoxist Studio/Getty Images Embed)}

Symptoms of the new variant

“Most people who contract the coronavirus will never know which variant is causing their symptoms.”says Wen.

The symptoms caused by Covid-19 infection are runny nose, headache, sore throat, body pain, fever, cough and, in more serious cases, such as in risk groups, for example, they may experience shortness of breath and worsen cardiac insufficiency. None of these symptoms can be presented as specific to a variant, as there are cases that are difficult to differentiate even from the flu or cold.

Featured Photo: KP.2 is the variant responsible for the considerable increase in cases of the virus in the United States, leaving the population on alert (reproduction/koto_feja/Getty Images Embed)