Currently, the dominant Covid variant in the United States is LP.8.1.
As many have predicted there is a new Covid variant, NB.1.8.1.
Early research suggests that NB.1.8.1 may be more transmissible than LP.8.1.
NB.1.8.1’s stronger immune evasion suggests that people who have gotten previous infections or vaccinations may still be susceptible to it.
While the virulence of the disease is still unknown, the World Health Organization said that NB.1.8.1 does not cause more severe disease than other variants.
Currently, the most distinctive symptom of NB.1.8.1 compared with other variants is a sore throat, according to news reports from China. Chinese citizens online have described the symptom as feeling like a “razor-blade throat.”
From Cardiology Advisor, Internal Medicine:
“NB.1.8.1, has been spotted in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific regions. Airport screenings in the United States have identified the new variant in travelers arriving from affected regions. These travelers were heading to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia, and New York, the Associated Press reported.
“As of mid-May, this variant has been identified in nearly 11 percent of sequenced samples reported worldwide. The WHO has designated this variant as a ‘variant under monitoring,’ and currently assesses the public health risk as low at the global level, with the expectation that current vaccines will remain effective against it.
“WHO stated, ‘Evaluation one the most recently designated variant under monitoring, NB.1.8.1, suggests no increased public health risk posed by these variants compared to other circulating variants.’”
As typically happens each year with influenza, which hits first in the Southern Hemisphere, I would expect the same pattern with NB1.8.1.
From Australia’s The New Daily:
“NB.1.8.1 currently makes up more than 40 per cent of all total Covid cases tested in Victoria, about 25 per cent in Western Australia and NSW, 20 per cent in Queensland and less than 10 per cent in South Australia.
‘The new strain is now the dominant coronavirus strain in China and Hong Kong and, in Australia, we’re seeing it pretty much everywhere,’ Griffith University virologist Associate Professor Lara Herrero said.
Herrato told the ABC the strain was predicted to become the dominant Covid varient in Australia too.
“The good news is that while it may spread faster and more easily within the community, the WHO has not yet observed any evidence it causes more severe disease compared to other variants.
“‘Reports suggest symptoms of NB.1.8.1 should align closely with other Omicron subvariants,’ Herrara said..
Common symptoms include sore throat, fatigue, fever, mild cough, muscle aches and nasal congestion. Some people may also have gastrointestinal symptoms.”
So will it be masking, isolation, booster shots, etc. all over again? … We’ll see.
6/12/25