Around 100 cases of fresh Covid new FLiRT variant KP.2 were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday, May 15. After Maharashtra Pune has recorded the highest number of KP.2 cases with 51 fresh new cases.
Initially, the KP.2 variant was identified in January and then precisely the variant got dominant in March and April as stated by Dr Rajesh Kariyakarte, a genome sequencing coordinator of the state of Maharashtra who has observed that there has been an increase in the number of cases. Apart from Pune and Thane, around 7 cases were reported in Amravati and Aurangabad. Solapur Ahmednagar, Nashik, Latur, and Sangli have reported one case of the KP.2 variant. Notably, no case was reported from the city of Mumbai.
The newly discovered variant of the Coronavirus is known as “FLiRT”. It is represented by the letters f and I, which means they possess specific mutation strains and the letters R and T is denoted by other strain features mutations.
According to the Japanese researchers who had conducted a study on the KP.2 variant, they found three unique substitutions in the S protein, they are S: R346T, S: F456L, and a non-S protein.
These genetic alterations have led to significant changes in the reproduction rate of kp.2 as compared to JN.1. The variant kp.2 is spreading faster than the kp.1.1 variant which is also a FLiRT variant. The latest data is from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which shows that KP.2.2 is responsible for around 28% of COVID cases in the United States of America.
The symptoms includes sore throat, running nose coughing, headache and body pains fever, congestion fatigue and in some severe conditions, shortness of breath.
Patients can also undergo diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting which is often confused with norovirus symptoms. Norovirus virus refers to the virus which affects the nervous system in a human being.
It is very much important to take precautions in such situations as wearing masks in crowded places, keeping hands clean, keeping social distancing, practicing isolation, avoiding staying in a poor ventilated rooms and maintain a healthy diet and hygiene.
Author: Anushka Jaiswal
Anushka Jaiswal is pursuing a degree in journalism and Mass Communication. I am more interested in listening to the podcast rather than reading books. My hobbies include listening to music, journaling philosophical thoughts. From my school days I have taken a keen interest in debate competitions whether it is English or Hindi. I am not much indulged in the sports but I remain active in some of the co curricular activities like cycling, swimming, running, jogging and the like.
