'Razor Blade Throat' COVID Subvariant Emerges: What To Know In RI

The new COVID-19 omicron subvariant, Nimbus (NB.1.8.1), has become the dominant strain across the United States and in Rhode Island.

Dubbed "Nimbus" (NB.181), the highly contagious version of coronavirus is characterized by its extremely painful sore throat, described as "razor blade throat" overseas.

As of June 13, Nimbus has been detected in Rhode Island and at least 13 other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, according to data from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data database.

Those who have contracted the strain and previously similar variants have described intense throat pain akin to having a throat lined with shards of glass.
But Will It Be as Bad as the Summer of '22?

“It’s hard to predict whether this variant or another will take off and cause a wave ... but it's likely that it won’t be as severe as what we experienced before 2023,” Dr. Albert Ko, professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, told NBC.

“Before Omicron, I think most people presented with the usual loss of taste and smell as the predominant symptom and shortness of breath,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco infectious disease expert told the Los Angeles Times.
These days, those sickened by COVID are less likely to be hospitalized, but patients tend to focus on other symptoms, such as a painful sore throat, Chin-Hong said.

Nimbus, which originated in China, accounts for an estimated 37 percent of cases nationwide, according to data collected over two weeks starting on June 7.