Unlock the Healthy Solution: LB.1 COVID-19 Variant in Australia

A new COVID-19 variant , LB.1 , has emerged in Australia , raising concerns among health experts about its potential to spread more rapidly than previous variants . Health experts have issued warnings about the increased transmissibility of this new variant . Professor Adrian Esterman , chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia , stated , " Although LB.1 is almost certainly more transmissible than KP.2 , it does n't appear to be outperforming KP.3 and its descendants . "

According to SBS News , a spokesperson from the Australian health department confirmed the presence of LB.1 cases in the country . The LB.1 variant is similar to the FLiRT and FLUQE variants , also known as KP.2 and KP.3 , which attracted attention earlier this year . Epidemiologists are referring to it as D - FLiRT because of changes to spike proteins , the part of the virus that allows it to invade human cells.

The acronym D - FLiRT comes from the technical names of the different variants mutations , one of which includes the letters F and L and another of which includes the letters R and T. The D refers to a " missing piece , " said Paul Griffin , an infectious disease physician and clinical microbiologist at the University of Queensland . " It 's got an extra deletion on the spike protein and that additional change means that our recognition by our immune system is a bit less , and therefore gives the variant an opportunity to spread a bit more easily , " he said.

Griffin mentioned that Australia could be nearing a peak in coronavirus cases this winter . But he added that it 's hard to tell how future cases will track and whether the new variant will cause a new wave of infections . " We had a large wave of COVID activity and that does seem to be stalling , but there is still quite a lot at the moment , " he said . " It 's problematic because it 's overlapping significantly with our flu season . And we 've also still got other things like mycoplasma and whooping cough going around , so it does mean there 's lots of people with respiratory infections at the moment . "

Experts say the new variant does n't appear to cause more severe symptoms than previous , similar variants . In the United States , KP.2 and KP.3 variants made up the majority of new cases at 37 per cent and 24 per cent respectively , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) Nowcast estimates . LB.1 was responsible for an estimated 15 per cent of infections , with other variants making up the remainder.

D - FLiRT was first detected in the US in March , and the CDC says there are no signs so far that the new LB.1 variant is causing more severe disease in COVID-19 patients . FLiRT , FLUQE , and D - FLiRT have descended from JN.1 , a variant that rose to prominence in late 2023 and became the dominant form of COVID-19 in Australia . The most recent COVID-19 surveillance reports of Australia 's two most populous states , NSW and Victoria , published over the past week found COVID-19 cases appeared to be declining . COVID-19 cases admitted to hospitals also appear to be declining , according to Australia 's National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System ( NNDSS ) . The seven - day average on 9 July was 53 cases , down from 107 a week earlier.