Spain has experienced an uptick in COVID-19 infections. The data reflected by the Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance System reportfrom the Carlos III Health Institute, places the rate of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) at the national level at 477 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Regarding SARS-CoV-2 cases, the percentage of positivity has increased from 2.2% in the week prior to the documented one, to 5.1% of the week between May 6 and 12, which appears in the last document. In Madrid, for example, the number of cases rises to 445 in the same proportion. Behind this widespread rebound at the national level, and in the Madrid region, is a variant of COVID.
Is about Pirola. Also known as A.2.86, is a subvariant of micron already known previously in our country. It was first detected by the World Health Organization (WHO) last August and declared by the organization itself as an emergency variant. Denmark, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States were the first countries to diagnose this variant, characterized by having more than 30 amino acid changes in its spike protein.
In December, in Spain, Pirola accounted for almost 42% of the sequenced samples, that is, more than a third of those carried out at that time. Both hospitals and health centers diagnosed new respiratory infections caused by this variant, which has once again caused another rebound in the final stretch of spring.
Symptoms similar to other variants
The picture that Pirola presents is not far from other micron lineages. Among them, some stand out such as fever, diarrhea, fatigue, body pain, nausea or vomiting, among others. In addition to these, it is also worth mentioning nasal discharge and/or congestion. This variant was found just after the well-known Eris (EG.5), and the XBB.1.5 variant, also known as Kraken.
FLiRT, dominant in the United States
Meanwhile, in the United States, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (SEE) cipher the increase in new cases sequenced by the FLiRT variant in a 25%. It originates from the same lineage as the micron variantand is known as the KP.2 variant in the country.
Regarding its symptoms, in addition to being the same as those of the variants mentioned above, in the North American country they pointed out others, such as the loss of taste or smell. A study published on bioRxiv cites that this variant is spreading rapidly in multiple regions since last April. In addition, a particularity of FLiRT stands out
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