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From Wales Online 3/14/25:
"A new Covid variant is causing thousands of infections with experts warning it has the potential to spread rapidly - and the number of cases it has caused in the UK has doubled in the last few weeks. The World Health Organisation says the new variant - LP.8.1 - is one of two designated a Variant Under Monitoring, the other being XEC. It has already been detected in 23 countries.
"XEC accounts for around half of all infections with Covid, and the recently detected LP.8.1 is already responsible for around 10 per cent of infections in some places - and in the USA it has now surpassed XEC to become the most common strain, according to some reports.
"In the UK, The UK Health Security Agency said that by the end of January, LP.8.1 was responsible for 6.9% of Covid cases tested. In the latest figures, released this week, LP.8.1 was found to be responsible for 15.56% of cases.
"The UKHSA said: "Emergency Department attendances for COVID-19-like remained stable. The number of reported SARS-CoV-2 confirmed acute respiratory infections (ARI) incidents in week 10 increased slightly compared with the previous week."
"They added: "As of 11 March 2025, there were a total of 824 COVID-19 cases identified in hospital settings in week 10, decreasing slightly from 870 cases in the previous week. COVID-19 PCR positivity in hospital settings remained stable in week 10, with a weekly average positivity rate of 3.3% compared with 3.2% in the previous week. Positivity rates were highest in those aged 85 years and over at a weekly average positivity rate of 5.8%. This remained stable when compared with week 9, when positivity rates were at 5.6% among those aged 85 years and over."
"The latest report from Ireland's Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reveals a significant increase in LP.8.1 cases, which now make up 9.7% of confirmed cases reported in the first five weeks of 2025 - a sharp rise from 1.5% in the final weeks of 2024
"It said: "Other lineages, particularly LP.8.1, are beginning to rise in prevalence. However, there is no evidence to date of an increase in clinical severity or reduction in vaccine effectiveness against severe disease. LP.8.1 and its sublineages accounted for 9.7% of sequences between week 1 2025 and week 5 2025. This compares to 1.5% between week 48 2024 and week 52 2024."
"According to the University of Tokyo: "LP.8.1, a descendant lineage of KP.1.1.3, is starting to spread worldwide." The experts in Japan say the new variant has nine new mutations - some of which could help it spread more easily and defeat immunity from previous infections or vaccines.
"They added: "Both live-virus and real-world data from more countries are needed to better understand the epidemiology of this variant."
"Kei Sato told ContagionLive: "The LP.8.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2, a descendant of the JN.1 lineage, has been spreading rapidly across the globe." He added: "Viruses evolve to evade the immunity in the host.”
"Sato said LP.8.1 shows higher immune resistance than JN.1, adding: “This is the concern. Based on our data, we cannot fully explain the reason why LP.8.1 possibly outcompetes XEC in some countries.”
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