In the fifth year of Covid-19, keeping up with the new variants can be tricky. This winter, a new one is making the rounds: JN.1.
Following the EG.5 (Eris), FL.1.5.1 (Fornax), XBB.1.16, and XBB.1.5, which were circulating during the fall.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that JN.1 accounted for about 62 percent of new Covid cases as of early January 2024 and is the fastest-growing variant in the U.S. now.
JN.1 has been the main variant circulating since December, but there is still much to learn about it according to David Dobrzynski, M.D., an infectious disease physician at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
“It’s a variant of interest, but not really a variant of concern,” he says. “It doesn’t seem to be causing severe disease. But, at the same time, that doesn’t mean we should be lax about it.”
The CDC states that Covid activity is “currently high” and that JN.1 could be driving the spread of Covid this winter.
Dr. Dobrzynski suggests that the recent increase in Covid cases, as well as flu cases, could be due to cold temperatures keeping everyone indoors and recent holiday gatherings.
Feeling the mental fatigue of staying up-to-date on the latest variant and how contagious it might be compared to others? You’re not the only one. Here are some things to know about the JN.1 variant.
It’s too early to tell how contagious JN.1 is.
The JN.1, which is closely related to the BA.2.86 variant that the CDC has been tracking, was first detected in September 2023. But it didn’t become the main strain until late December, according to the CDC’s Covid Data Tracker.
“Right now, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that JN.1 is more transmissible or evading our vaccines,” says Dr. Dobrzynski.
However, he says medical experts are still learning about JN.1.
Hospitalizations are increasing.
Hospitalizations because of Covid increased about 20 percent from November to December 2023, according to the CDC.
Dr. Dobrzynski says it’s difficult to say whether that’s because JN.1 is more transmissible or due to winter increases in respiratory illnesses.
Most hospitalized patients have JN.1 but that’s likely because it’s the most prominent variant circulating, he explains.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s necessarily causing more severe disease,” Dr. Dobrzynski says. “We’re just seeing more Covid cases, just like we are with flu and RSV, in the past couple of weeks.”
The most common Covid symptoms of 2024
According to Bernadette Boden-Albala,