That brings us to today. JN.1 is probably the dominant lineage in the world right now, but we won’t know for sure until the sequences catch up. It will certainly be there by the end of the year. 49/
It is fortunate for us that JN.1 is ultimately an Omicron derivative. Our immunity to it is not perfect, but most of us have been exposed to an Omicron lineage previously through vaccination or infection. A little immunity can be enough to keep you out of the hospital. 50/
But what is next? There are still lineages in persistent infections out there that are wildly more divergent than JN.1. I’m still seeing lineages from wastewater that are derived from Delta and earlier. Hopefully they won’t escape, ‘AY.135’ might be trouble. 51/
Eventually we do expect this virus will calm down and become more like a common cold virus. This will probably take a while though. It is still fairly new, and it has already seeded God knows how many persistent infections that can start up the next wave. 52/
Personally, I think we should be focusing our efforts on finding and treating these patients, for their benefit and for ours. 53/53
Special thanks to some scientists that have helped me to figure some of this stuff out along the way. @PeacockFlu @LongDesertTrain @PaulBieniasz @dho @jbloom_lab @CorneliusRoemer
@SolidEvidence @PeacockFlu @LongDesertTrain @PaulBieniasz @dho @jbloom_lab @CorneliusRoemer What are your thoughts on the recombinant JN.1.1.1/XBB variant and where the mutations are concentrated?
@SolidEvidence @PeacockFlu @LongDesertTrain @PaulBieniasz @dho @jbloom_lab @CorneliusRoemer I appreciate this thread. Interesting and accessible to us laymen.
@SolidEvidence @PeacockFlu @LongDesertTrain @PaulBieniasz @dho @jbloom_lab @CorneliusRoemer Interesting thread, thank you! What does a persistant SARS-CoV-2 infection look like clinically? What underlying reasons are there for persistent infections (chemotherapy, immunosuppressive rheumotologic treatments)?
@SolidEvidence @PeacockFlu @LongDesertTrain @PaulBieniasz @dho @jbloom_lab @CorneliusRoemer Are there exposed portions of the Spike protein that are conserved across these variants? If so, what are the prospects for a "universal" vaccine that binds to those conserved portions?