After new variant detected in Kerala, hospitals told to step up Covid screening

GURGAON: The Haryana health department on Tuesday directed all hospitals to review public health and hospital preparedness measures in the wake of a spurt in Covid-19 cases in some states. This comes a day after the Union health ministry asked all states to remain alert and keep up the vigil against emergence of any new clusters of Covid or other respiratory illness for timely action.

At present, Kerala is witnessing a rise in Covid cases and deaths, where daily cases have nearly tripled in a week and 10 deaths have been reported from December 1 to 17.

Of particular concern is JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1), a new sub-variant of Covid-19 which was recently detected in a 79-year-old woman in Kerala. It is a descendant of BA.2.86 lineage (Pirola) of SARS-CoV-2 which was first identified in August. Reports suggest it carries significant mutations that may contribute to increased transmissibility and immune-escape ability. JN.1 variant has also been reported in the US, China, and Singapore.

According to the government, there is no indication of increased severity from JN.1 or risk posed by the subvariant to public health in comparison to other currently circulating variants. Updated Covid-19 vaccines are expected to increase protection against JN.1, as they do for other variants, it said.

Hospitals have been asked to screen people having symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). Genome sequencing of suspected patients will be carried out. Nasal and throat samples of random patients having a recent history of travel will be sent to virus research and diagnostic laboratories.

"We have already carried out preparedness checks of 98 hospitals in the district, which included the availability of human resources, beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment, testing kits and reagents. Functionality of oxygen plants and ventilators, and infection control practices were also checked. We have 5,869 beds in the city, which include 1,386 beds with oxygen support and 659 ICU beds. We also have 285 ventilators and 26 oxygen plants," said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon.

Meanwhile, all districts have also been asked to closely monitor ILI/SARI trends, particularly in children and adolescents, and upload the data on the government's Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) portal.

"We also sent six samples on Tuesday for genome sequencing. There is no indication of increased severity from JN.1 so far. Hospitals have been directed to carry out RT-PCR tests if anyone has ILI or SARI symptoms," he added.

Rapid response teams will conduct surveys in districts and will ask people about any breathing difficulties, travel history and past illness, and if they recently came in contact with any patient with fever and flu.

"The JN.1 sub-variant has recently emerged. While it's important to stay informed and take necessary precautions, there's no need to panic. Similar to other Covid variants, its symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, headache, cough, and in some cases, mild gastrointestinal symptoms. So far, there is no evidence to suggest JN.1 causes more severe illness than other variants," said Dr Tushar Tayal, lead consultant (internal medicine) at CK Birla Hospital.