New Covid variant PJ.2.1 reaches eight countries, WHO and health bodies monitoring it

A new Covid-19 variant, PJ.2.1, has raised concern among health agencies and scientists. The world has not yet fully put the coronavirus crisis behind it, and this mutated virus has now come into discussion. It was first identified in February this year and has since reached several countries one after another.

According to reports from health bodies, the strain originated in Ontario province in Canada. It initially appeared to be a minor infection but has now crossed borders. Patients infected with the variant have been officially recorded in a total of eight countries, including the United States, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Singapore. Its arrival from North America to Europe and Asia has revived fears of a fresh wave of infection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other international health bodies are closely watching the virus's every move and its capacity to spread. Scientists are also trying to find out how it travelled from one country to another in such a short time.

An early study published in The Journal of Infection has pointed to a scientific reason. According to the study, PJ.2.1 has an unusually high number of mutations in its spike protein. The spike protein is the main part of the virus that helps it enter human cells easily. The study says this change makes the virus bind to the ACE2 receptor on human cells faster and more strongly. Compared with older variants, it can enter cells far more easily, which is why it spreads very fast. The reassuring news is that researchers have so far found no evidence that the virus can completely evade the antibodies the body has built after vaccination.

The biggest question is how dangerous the variant is. For now, there is no such fear. It has not been established that it is significantly more dangerous than Omicron or other recent sub-variants. Even so, it could be a cause for concern for people with weak immunity or those already battling another serious illness.

An infection usually brings flu-like symptoms such as a common cold, cough, body ache and mild fever. According to the WHO, its symptoms look like those of an ordinary cold, so antigen testing or genomic sequencing is the better way to identify it correctly.

There is no firm evidence that the new variant increases hospital admissions or causes more severe illness. Even so, its capacity to spread very fast is being treated as a warning sign. Experts say there is no need to panic, but carelessness could prove costly.