A new family of Covid subvariants, which has rapidly spread through the US and UK, has now been detected in Australia. Aussies are being warned to brace for a surge in cases in the coming weeks as these subvariants, collectively referred to as FLiRT, take hold.
The FLiRT subvariants, including KP.1 and KP.2, have quickly become the dominant strains in the US. FLiRT, which derives from the JN.1 variant responsible for a previous wave of Covid-19 infections in Australia earlier this year, owes its nickname to the technical mutations in its genetic code.
Professor Catherine Bennett, Chair in Epidemiology at Deakin University, highlighted the high transmissibility of the FLiRT subvariants. “It’s very transmissible, just like the JN.1 variant,” she said. “But its mutations look a bit different, which means it’s got a bit of an advantage over JN.1 if our immune system doesn’t recognize it as readily.”
Detected in Australia since February, the FLiRT subvariants are driving the next Covid wave, which is expected to peak in late June. “We really are at the start of the wave, it’s already kicking off. And we’d expect the wave, as they always do, to last four to six weeks before we’d see the numbers come back down again,” Professor Bennett explained.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified subvariants, including KP.2 and KP.3, as “variants under monitoring” (VUMs). “WHO wants to keep an eye on it because it is the one that’s getting a foothold. They want to make sure it’s not going to, in rare cases, cause more severe disease. At this stage, there is no sign of that,” Professor Bennett added.
In Australia, FLiRT variants have been detected across several states. In New South Wales, KP.2 accounted for 50% of Covid-19 infections as of May 4, according to NSW Health. FLiRT variants have also been identified in wastewater samples in Victoria. Queensland’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, warned that the state was seeing an uptick in Covid cases. “This is due to one of the FLiRT variants — almost certainly driven by one of these fluid variants, particularly the very important KP.3, a particularly contagious form of Covid,” Dr. Gerrard stated.
“The numbers have started to rise and we will expect the numbers to increase significantly in the coming weeks,” he added.
As Australia faces this new wave of Covid infections, public health officials are urging vigilance and adherence to preventive measures to mitigate the impact of these highly transmissible FLiRT subvariants.
