Kerala reports new COVID-19 variant JN.1 case

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)?
• News Summary: Kerala reports new COVID-19 variant JN.1 case 
• About JN.1
• Can this variant lead to an increase in cases?
• Are JN.1 cases on the rise?

Why in news?

• A case of JN.1, a sub-variant of COVID-19 that’s currently spreading in the US and China, has been found in Kerala.
• It was found as part of the ongoing routine surveillance by INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium).

Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)

• About
  • INSACOG is a national multi-agency consortium of Genome Sequencing Laboratories (RGSLs) laboratories.
  • It was established by the Government of India in December 2020 for genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in India.
  • Presently, there are 28 laboratories under this Consortium which monitor the genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2.
• Jointly established by:
  • MoH&FW, DBT, CSIR and ICMR
• Objective
  • To ascertain the status of Variants of Interest (VoI) and Variants of Concern (VoC) in the country
  • To establish sentinel surveillance and surge surveillance mechanisms for early detection of genomic variants and assist in formulating effective public health response
  • To determine the presence of genomic variants in samples collected during super-spreader events and in areas reporting increasing trend of cases/deaths etc.

News Summary: Kerala reports new COVID-19 variant JN.1 case

• The sub-variant is not entirely new and has been detected in small numbers in many countries for several months now.

About JN.1

• The sub-variant JN.1 is a close relative of the 2.86 variant, commonly referred to as Pirola.
  • Pirola was on the watchlist of scientists as a variant of interest because of more than 39 mutations it carried on the spike protein as compared to its predecessor.
• It carries just one additional mutation in the spike protein as compared to its relative.
  • Mutations on the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 are important because they are the ones that attach to receptors on human cells and allow the virus to enter it.

Can this variant lead to an increase in cases?

• There were concerns that Pirola might be able to more effectively evade immunity and spread quickly. However, that hasn’t happened.
• The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the updated vaccines available have demonstrated the ability to effectively block Pirola infections.
• Hence, it is optimistic that the available vaccines will provide protection against JN.1 as well.
• Experts say that immunity from previous infections and immunisation with vaccines containing ancestral spike protein are likely to protect against newer variants as well.

Are JN.1 cases on the rise?

• The WHO said that Pirola and its descendants accounted for 17 per cent of the Sars-CoV-2 sequences uploaded to the global database
• More than half of these sequences were that of JN.1 by the beginning of December.

Q1) What is genome sequencing?

Genome sequencing is a process that determines the DNA sequence of an organism's genome. It's also known as whole genome sequencing, full genome sequencing, or complete genome sequencing.

Q2) What is Pirola?

An article published in the Yale Medicine Review noted the rise of Covid-19 infections in multiple countries, driven by a new Coronavirus variant called BA.2.86, which is informally being termed ‘Pirola’.

Source: Kerala reports new COVID-19 variant JN.1 case that’s spreading in China, US: Health Ministry keeps vigil in states | Department of Bio Technology | PIB