This is FLiRT, the new covid variant, its symptoms and what you should know.

Time travel is not always an exciting adventure and does not always have a happy ending. In fact, if they are repeated, the effect can be terrifying. In this case, Beginning in the spring of 2024, reports of a new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 were still alarming, and now in the summer, cases continue to rise.; Although the disease has become influenza-like and there are practically no serious cases in the world, a new strain of Sars-CoV-2 has emerged.

In recent weeks, The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported a new set of variants. detected in wastewater monitoring. It’s called FLiRT, and it threatens to trigger a new wave of Covid infections, which have already been brought under control after a surge in cases last December. This KP.3 variant accounted for 31.1% of cases in the North American country between June 9 and June 22. making it the dominant strain in the region, surpassing JN.1, which currently accounts for 4.4%.

This virus has long been haunting all of humanity, both in dreams and when waking up from them. The entire planet has learned its name by heart since the spring of 2020, although it first appeared at the end of 2019 in Wuhan (China); Sars-CoV-2 has been the main source of the most alarming news for two full years. mutating many times, although her danger later diminished, and in space in the news.

However, it is useful to remember that in May 2023, the European Union’s European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) stated that Covid-19 was no longer considered a public health emergency internationally. However, the European agency itself has warned that the virus continues to circulate and does pose a potential and serious health risk, so it will exclude this emergency nuance from this review.

How high is the incidence of covid in Spain and which variant is dominant?

The Carlos III Institute of Health in its latest report on “Sentinel Surveillance for Acute Respiratory Infection in Primary Care (IRA) and Hospital (SARI): Influenza, Covid-19 and RSV” stands out Covid-19 incidence in primary care was 128.6 cases/100,000 hours (117.5 cases/100,000 hours in the previous week) and Covid hospitalization rate 3.5 cases/100,000 hours (4.3 cases/100,000 hours in the previous week). In terms of severity, since the beginning of the season, hospitalized cases accounted for 30.4% of pneumonias, 3.9% of intensive care unit admissions, and 8.4% of deaths.

The SARS-CoV-2 variant identified in the largest proportion of ARI cases in primary care was BA.2.86, named Pirola, (59.62%), with a prevalence of 81.49% since the beginning of the corresponding season of circulation of the JN lineage and sublineage .1. The SARS-CoV-2 variant identified in the largest proportion of hospital-based SARI cases was BA.2.86 (60.47%).with a prevalence of 80.98% since the beginning of the season, which corresponds to the circulation of JN.1 lines and sublines.

Symptoms of the new covid variant FLiRT

Currently reported symptoms of the FLiRT covid variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are similar to those of other variants and include: fever, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, chills, trouble breathing, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, brain fog (a feeling of loss of wakefulness or awareness), and gastrointestinal symptoms.