How Covid-19's symptoms have changed with each new variant
What are the symptoms of JN.1 and KP.2
The version of the Covid-19 virus behind the latest spike in infections shares many of the same symptoms as earlier variants of Sars-CoV-2 : a sore throat, fatigue, headache and a cough.
Differences in the symptoms often depend on a person’s underlying health and their immune system. But some clinicians are reporting among the most common first signs of an infection by JN.1 are diarrhoea or a headache. Fewer patients are losing their sense of smell with variants closely-related to Omicron, of which JN.1 is a subvariant.
Another Omicron subvariant, KP.2 shares many genetic features with JN.1, but shows two distinctive mutations in its spike protein, leading to the nickname “FLiRT” as a way of describing specific amino acid changes. Although KP.2 has a higher reproductive number than JN.1, suggesting it is more transmissible, the virus itself has been found to be up to 10 times less infectious. It’s symptoms are said to be similar to those experienced with other Omnicron variants.
Add comment