COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are up slightly in the U.S. this week, and the new JN.1 subvariant is responsible for approximately 44% of cases. This variant has been linked with a shift in symptoms, from respiratory to digestive.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, JN.1 was first detected in the U.S. this September. It made up 15% to 29% of COVID cases in the nation as of Dec. 8 and was the fastest growing variant in the U.S. This variant is closely related to at least one other omicron subvariant.
Fortune reported that “there are reports of increased diarrhea that may or may not be associated with the variant.”
Per the outlet, multiple countries are also seeing all-time highs of COVID in wastewater, including Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.
“There were some huge spikes in wastewater in Europe, and a lot of us were pondering what the possible explanations could be – whether it’s just a lot of cases or whether there’s some other explanation,” Marc Johnson, molecular virologist and professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Missouri, told DailyMail.com.
He said one explanation could be that JN.1 is more gut-focused than other variants. While he also said there is no “no direct evidence,” for that theory so far, Johnson noted that many other coronaviruses do infect the gut.
Cases may be increasing, but the World Health Organization said this week that based on the currently available data, “the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low,” per the United Nations. However, the WHO said that it could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries.
Current vaccinations protect against the variant, said the WHO.
“CDC projects that JN.1 will continue to increase as a proportion of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences.”
According to Nebraska Medicine University Health Center, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms related to COVID “tend to be some of the first symptoms you will experience,” and “diarrhea caused by COVID-19 tends to be more watery, yellow or green in color.”
Diarrhea may be accompanied by cramping and bloating and it will likely be followed by other more classic, respiratory COVID symptoms.