KP.3.1.1 is ’very similar to other circulating variants in the United States,’ an agency spokesperson said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the KP.3.1.1 COVID-19 variant is now the most common strain in the United States, but a spokesperson added that there is no evidence that it causes more severe symptoms.
The most recently updated CDC statistics show that the variant, an offshoot of the KP.3 strain, makes up about 27.8 percent of estimated cases for the two-week period ending Aug. 3. Next is the KP.3 variant, which makes up about 20 percent of all U.S. cases, followed by the LB.1 and KP.2.3 strains.
A spokesperson for the CDC told The Epoch Times on Wednesday that the KP.3.1.1 “is very similar to other circulating variants in the United States, and all current lineages are descendants of JN.1, which emerged in late 2023.”
“At this time, we anticipate that COVID-19 treatments and vaccines will continue to work against all circulating variants,” the spokesperson said, adding that the agency will monitor the severity of variants and whether vaccines are effective.
But the CDC official said that there is no information “currently indicating that this variant causes more severe COVID-19,” and it is expected to cause similar symptoms as other variants.
Andy Pekosz, a molecular microbiology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the KP.3 variant doesn’t appear to cause more severe symptoms. Antibodies provided through prior infection or vaccines have led to better outcomes in recent months, he said in an interview posted on the university’s website in May.
“You are contagious one to two days before you experience symptoms and a few days after symptoms subside. And as with previous variants, some people may have detectable live virus for up to a week after their symptoms begin, and some may experience rebound symptoms,” he said at the time.
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