COVID-19 Update: KP.2 (FLiRT) Rapidly Becoming Our Dominant Strain

COVID-19 Update: Newest Variant KP.2 (05-21-24) Dr. Stephanie Paulmeno, Public Health Education Specialist Greenwich Department of Health spaulmeno47@yahoo.com

Our COVID-19 numbers continue to drop along with related hospitalizations & deaths, however COVID-19 continues to mutate, as viruses do. Our newest variant, KP.2, is fast becoming the dominant COVID-19 strain in the country. It’s another Omicron mutation & one of variants known as FLiRT. Both KP.2 & its predecessor, KP.1.1, descend from JN.1, the former dominant Omicron variant, but KP.2 is rapidly claiming that distinction in the U.S.A. The CDC notes that of new COVID infections between April 14 -27, 2024, ¼ (25%) of them were caused by KP.2. Previously, KP.2 represented only 6% of our cases. Now the CDC is monitoring for a possible summer/Fall wave because KP.2 is spreading so rapidly. SARS CoV2 will not be our last pandemic! All FLiRT variants have the same altered spike protein that enables the virus to colonize in our bodies & cause us to become ill. The FLiRT variants are adept at being immune-evasive. Fortunately, this FLiRT group shows no signs, at this moment in time, of making victims more ill than prior versions, but they will make many more people ill. The more vulnerable among us are more likely to fall ill due to KP.2's high transmissibility & immune evasion properties. Those with underlying health conditions, advanced age, & the very young, as well as those with poor immune systems, & the un- & under-vaccinated, will remain at higher risk for infection, & for becoming more seriously ill or dying if they become severely infected.

If you develop symptoms, get tested, see your healthcare provider, get treated, & stay home & away from others. You do not know who around you is vulnerable or at high risk. Regrettably, because this mutant is better able to evade immunity we might have acquired from prior infections &/or earlier vaccines, our protection is diminished. Immunity levels decline over time, & so many here in Connecticut across the age span are un- or under-vaccinated against COVID-19 (Microsoft Power BI (powerbigov.us). Many of us never took the latest m-RNA monovalent vaccine/booster. If you are not fully vaccinated & monovalent boosted, consider your & your family’s risk factors & consider getting vaccinated now. The vaccines are safe & effective (The Updated COVID Vaccines Are Here: 9 Things to Know > News > Yale Medicine)

So why are the CDC & State & Local Health Departments remaining vigilant?

· In Connecticut (& the US), our vaccination rates with the updated monovalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine/booster are abysmally low across all age groups & Connecticut is better than many states (https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-adults.html and (CT-DPH) Microsoft Power BI (powerbigov.us)).

· COVID-19 surveillance in the U.S. is considerably reduced since the pandemic public health emergency was declared ended last year. Each person & parent are pretty much on their own when deciding to use or not use the many protective measures at our disposal.

· The former requirement for all hospitals to report COVID-19 information to the federal government expired 5-1-24. Now only a handful of facilities in a surveillance network is tracked. The numbers of nursing home facilities that are voluntarily reporting their staff & resident COVID-19 cases/deaths is declining. In the last data recording week, only 165 out of 203 nursing homes in Connecticut submitted data.

· COVID-19 has shown itself to be deadlier than the flu. Consider that 5.7% of people who became COVID-infected did not survive their illness compared to 4.2% of those sickened with Influenza; a 35% higher risk of death (Risk of Death in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 vs Seasonal Influenza in Fall-Winter 2022-2023 | Critical Care Medicine | JAMA | JAMA Network)

· The CDC is monitoring for a possible summer/Fall surge, but this could fizzle out & not become a reality (see prior link). People are still being urged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to improve their & our odds.