One of the latest reports from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that FLiRT is rapidly spreading across the United States. FLiRT is the name used to describe several variants of COVID, including KP.3, the currently dominant strain. The CDC reports that KP.3 now accounts for 36.9% of cases, while KP.2 makes up 24.4%.
Here’s everything you need to know about the current surge in COVID-19 cases.
Should you be worried?
Health experts have long identified that COVID-19 has two peak outbreaks per year—winter and summer. According to the latest data, the positive test rate in laboratories increased by 11% in just one week.
Additionally, just before July 4th, four states—Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah—reported very high levels of the virus in wastewater samples taken from sewage systems. The good news is that despite the increase in cases, COVID-19 mortality continues to decline by several percent each week.
Why have COVID-19 cases increased?
Various factors contribute to the rise in cases. Firstly, people’s immunity to the virus is waning. Only 22% of the U.S. population has received the latest vaccine.
Secondly, the newest variants are mutating to make it easier to infect as many people as possible. However, so far, the virus does not appear to be causing more severe illnesses.
“The latest data on COVID-19 shows that it now has statistics similar to the flu, namely hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths each year,” says Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine expert committee. “And, like the flu, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are the most affected.”
What is important to know about FLiRT?
Despite the amusing name, FLiRT is not the official designation for the dominant variant of COVID-19. It is actually a name for a whole family of different variants of the virus (any that start with KP or JN).
The latest strains still belong to the Omicron family, and KP.2 and KP.3—two examples of FLiRT variants named for their specific mutations in the virus’s spike protein—currently dominate new cases in the U.S.
At present, it does not appear that these mutations make the virus more dangerous to human health or cause more severe illnesses. However, health experts are monitoring cases to learn more about the latest changes.
Is the virus becoming stronger, and what are the symptoms of FLiRT?
People who have recently been infected have experienced symptoms of fever, cough, malaise, and even gastrointestinal distress. However, having more severe symptoms than usual does not necessarily mean you are facing a more dangerous strain.
Dr. Robert Murphy, professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says that more severe-than-usual cases of COVID-19 may be due to the fact that their immunity is now much lower than in previous years when more people were recently vaccinated. The low uptake of the latest vaccine means fewer people have the maximum possible protection against the latest variants.
“Vaccines give you better immunity than the disease itself,” says Murphy. “Vaccines provide controlled exposure that gives you a stronger immune response than infection.”
The good news is that KP.3 and KP.2 do not appear to cause any unexpected symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those of other COVID-19 strains. The CDC updated its list of possible symptoms in March, which includes:
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• A new loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
Should you get a COVID-19 vaccine?
Most doctors are confident that vaccines are crucial for people at high risk of developing complications from COVID-19. Vaccination can protect them from hospitalization. However, it’s important to maintain realistic expectations.
The CDC’s expert vaccine committee recently recommended an updated COVID-19 vaccine for everyone aged six months and older for the upcoming fall-winter season. The vaccine will be revised to target the currently circulating KP variant, which should improve the vaccine’s ability to minimize symptoms and severe COVID-19 disease.
However, the CDC and experts still recommend the current vaccine to protect yourself until the 2024–25 booster is available in the fall.
How to protect yourself?
In March, the CDC updated its Respiratory Virus Guidance as COVID-19 cases declined over time. “This is still a serious health threat, but it is no longer the emergency it once was, and its impact on health increasingly resembles that of other respiratory viral diseases, including flu and RSV,” the new guidance states.
The same precautions will help protect against the spread of most respiratory viruses: wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, get vaccinated, and stay home if you are sick to avoid infecting others. Older adults, people with weakened immune systems, and children should take additional precautions, such as avoiding large crowds and wearing masks if COVID-19 cases are rising in your area.
If you get sick, the CDC still recommends staying home until your symptoms generally improve, and you are fever-free (without taking fever-reducing medications). After that, you can resume normal activities and “use additional preventive strategies for the next five days.”
