The Most Common COVID Symptoms Doctors Are Seeing This Spring
HuffPost
The FLiRT variants are currently the dominant COVID-19 strains in the United States.
As we head into summer, there’s a new dominant COVID-19 variant that’s infecting people across the United States. KP.2 now represents 28% of COVID-19 infections in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“KP.2 is one of several variants being referred to as ‘FLiRT variants,’ named after the technical names for their mutations,” Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist at NYU Langone Health, told HuffPost via email. KP.2 is a descendent of the JN.1 strain from the winter, Parikh added.
Specifically, the FLiRT variants have a similar mutation in the spike protein, said Dr. Donald Dumford, an infectious disease physician at Cleveland Clinic Akron General in Ohio. “That spike protein is what the virus uses to actually attach to and penetrate our lung cells.”
“It has new mutations which may evade antibodies (this is normally how viruses evolve and survive),” Parikh explained.
Currently, COVID-19 cases are low, according to the American Medical Association, but it’s worth knowing the signs of spring COVID infections and how best to protect yourself from getting infected with KP.2 or another FLiRT variant. Below, experts share the common COVID-19 symptoms they’re seeing this spring and their tips to stay healthy:
