A new Covid subvariant called FLuQE has been spreading across Australia and the US, as the UK continues to see cases increase week on week, leading to some hospitals reintroducing mask mandates to keep patients safe. Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Hartlepool Mail, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. FLuQE, also called KP.
3, which is a subvariant of the FLiRT variant, has been causing cases to surge in Australia as they experience their cold season, as well as becoming the dominant strain in the USA. Advertisement Advertisement Covid is continuing to mutate and as it does so, the compound of the virus changes. FLuQE has an additional spike protein with makes it even more transmissible, which is thought to be behind the surge in case numbers.
Here’s everything you need to know about the FLuQE variant and what this means for Covid cases in the UK. FLuQE, also known as KP.3, is a new Covid subvariant that is a strain of the FLiRT variant that has been driving case numbers across the UK.
Other strains in that group included KP.1, KP.2, and JN.
1.7, with FLuQE sharing the same mutations as KP.2, however it has an additional spike protein with makes it even more transmissible.
Advertisement Advertisement It has been causing cases to surge in Australia as they experience their cold season, with FluQ3 now making up the majority of Covid infections. Speaking about the increase, Adrian Esterman, a biostatistician from the University of South Australia told Australia’s SBS News : "KP.3 is already dominating in the US, and rapidly increasing in Australia.
" Professor Paul Griffin, an infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist from the University of Queensland, told ABC : “What this virus has done many times, and continues to do, is that it's changed significantly.” He continued: “Certainly in our country, FLuQE, or KP.3, has passed FLiRT, or KP.
2. South Australia has led the charge, but in most parts of the country we’ve already transitioned to the next one after FLiRT.” KP.
3 has also became the most dominant strain in America, responsible for 33% of cases according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Advertisement Advertisement It can be hard to work out during the summer whether your sniffle or cough could be down to hay fever, the common cold or the flu, but the addition mix of new Covid strains add another possible cause. Thankfully, the main symptoms of the new KP.
3 Covid variant remain the same, including a high temperature or chills, a new continuous cough or a loss or change to taste and smell. Covid can sometimes feel like a common cold or flu, but according to the NHS you can also feel these symptoms: If you develop any of the above symptoms it’s important to take a Covid test to determine whether or not you are infected. Advertisement Advertisement The new Covid variants are proving to be more infectious, so what does this mean for the Covid vaccine? Professor Griffin explains: “The main thing is that every time the virus changes, the immunity from past infection or vaccination declines again.
” He continued: “That doesn't mean these changes render our vaccines ineffective, or that past infection doesn't provide an element of protection, it just declines in a relatively progressive way.” Because of this, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended developing new vaccines that directly target the FLiRT variant and its subvariants, sharing in a statement, that “future COVID-19 vaccines be based on JN.1 so as to offer protection against future JN.
1 descendant lineages.” It is still recommended to take the Covid vaccine if you are eligible as Professor Griffin explained it “still does a great job of reducing risk, particularly of severe disease". Advertisement Advertisement In the UK, the summer vaccine scheme has now ended, with an uptake of 62.
3% according to UKHSA. The next Covid vaccine rollout is expected to take place in autumn. It’s advised that if you test positive with Covid that you avoid people for five days to prevent spreading it within your community.
According to GOV.UK , most people will no longer be contagious after five days, however, for some it can take 10 days, so if you are experiencing symptoms it’s advised that you stay at home, if possible, until you feel better and test negative. You can find out more about the signs and symptoms of Covid, how to get tests and who is eligible for the vaccine booster on NHS.
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