Lucknow Press
The coronavirus is not over yet. Every day it is seen in some new form somewhere or the other. The news of its variant Flirt (FLiRT) has not yet become old that its new variant Fluq (FLuQE covid variant) has arrived in Australia.
Actually, the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for corona keeps on mutating and changing into new variants. Because of this, when our immune system becomes compatible with a variant, the new variant comes as a challenge.
The Flirt subvariant is a descendant of the Omicron variant JN.1 which includes KP.1.1, KP.2 and JN.1.7. KP.2 contributed significantly to the COVID infection in Australia and elsewhere around May. Fluke (KP.3) is said to be a descendant of Flirt. Which means it has inherited the same mutation as the Flirt variant. It is still early days for Fluke and there is not much research on it yet. But it appears that now we have another immune-evading virus that is also well adapted to infect our cells. This is why Fluke is becoming dominant in many countries.
Regarding this, Professor Nathan Bartlett of Newcastle University, Australia, says that with the widespread transmission and infection of the Flirt and Fluke variants, the population’s immunity to these variants will mature. Along with this, a new variant will emerge after mutation in this virus.
The tug of war between our immune system and SARS-CoV-2 evolution continues. The issue we are dealing with right now is that vaccines do not adequately protect against infection or suppress virus transmission. Although they are very good at preventing severe disease, the virus still infects many people.
Lots of infections mean more opportunities for the virus to evolve, along with a burden on people and health care. The next generation of vaccines and treatments really need to boost immunity in the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat) to reduce infection and transmission. This is where the infection starts. There are immune-stimulating nasal sprays and nasal vaccines for this purpose.
