Rome, 4 May 2024 – There is an alert in the USA due to the circulation of new KP.2 variantdaughter of the now well-known JN.1 which he outclassed. It is currently a ‘strengthened’ variant of Covid responsible for the majority of new cases overseas and whose characteristics require attention, as underlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is because “it would have a mutation of the Spike protein, which the SarsCoV2 virus uses to attach to cells, but above all it would not seem to respond to updated versions of the vaccines”. In the US, the worst is already feared, namely the arrival of a new wave of Covid in the summer. “We have a population in which immunity to the virus has waned and this increases collective vulnerability to new infections of the SarsCoV2 virus,” he observed Thomas A. Russoresponsible of Department of Infectious Diseases from the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University of Buffalo. i“If I look into my crystal ball – he added – I would say that, considering the various factors at play with the new mutation, we will probably have a new wave or in any case an increase in cases and hospitalizations this summer”.
A study carried out at Harvard and not yet published would also show not only that the latest vaccines would not protect against KP.2but that the latter variant would be more resistant to immunity acquired from previous infections.
“The variability of the Covid virus is now evident – explains Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the State University of Milan –. Its ability to develop new variants that are significantly different from an antigen point of view within 4-6 months highlights the opportunity, to date, to use a vaccination approach similar to the one that has been adopted for years the flu. In other words, too the vaccine against Covid-19 will change every year”.
