The new variants of Covid-19, including those informally known as “FLiRT,” have been detected in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Tuesday, June 4.

In a statement, the DOH said it has been operating with the “assumption” that the flagged Omicron subvariants are “already likely here” in the country.

Citing the recent sequencing data by the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), the presence of the new Covid-19 variants has been confirmed with the identification of 30 cases of JN.1, 2 cases of JN.1.18, and 2 cases of KP.2.

“Their detection (along with the slow increase in the number of new cases and the plateau in number of occupied Covid-19 beds) aligns with the international observation that the new variants under monitoring continue to be clinically mild and manageable,” DOH said.

For the week of May 21 to 27, DOH noted that there were 2,235 cases reported. The average number of daily reported cases for this week, the agency said, is 319.

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https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/4/philippines-sees-gradual-rise-in-covid-19-cases

Detection of subvariants

DOH Spokesperson Albert Domingo told reporters that the agency is currently monitoring the date of “symptom onset of the cases” especially for the new variants.

“Strictly speaking, these detected subvariants may not be the first detected cases,” Domingo said.

“If at a later day this month new results come in of cases with older symptom onset, then those latter ones will be 'older',” he added.

Domingo stressed that the sequencing date is “not that useful for risk communication” and the sequencing findings “do not really affect” the ongoing protocols and clinical management related to Covid-19 cases.

However, he assured that DOH will provide updates with “more details as they come.”

Local transmission?

Meanwhile, Domingo explained that the transmission of the new Covid-19 variants may no longer be relevant.

“It does not matter where they come from within the Philippines because we do not have borders within our countries,” Domingo said.

“Also, it does not matter because there will be no changes in clinical management as the subvariants remain to be mild,” he added.

Domingo also noted that the “earliest sample collection date” for JN.1 in the Philippines was November 2023 and for KP.2, it was in May 2024.

“It may be likely that there are earlier KP.2 cases, but because of limited sequencing we have not detected and reported this earlier,” Domingo said.

However, he explained that there are still samples being sequenced. “What we can say is most of the sequenced cases are JN.1, but that doesn't necessarily mean that out there, it is the predominant subvariant,” he added.

DOH also noted that there is still “no evidence now” that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants are causing severe to critical Covid-19, both locally and internationally.

“Further assessment continues to determine transmissibility and capacity to evade immune response,” the agency said.

Variants under monitoring

DOH noted that there are four variants under monitoring (VUM): JN.1.7, JN.1.18, KP.2 and KP.3.

“All of these are descendants of JN.1. Variants KP.2 and KP.3 are the proper names of what is informally known as ‘FLiRT’ variants,” DOH said.

DOH explained that “FLiRT” is a nickname coined by some researchers to describe amino acid changes in the Covid-19 virus’ spike protein, specifically from phenylalanine (F) to leucine (L) at position 456, and from arginine (R) to threonine (T) at position 346.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the DOH said, observed that “there are currently no reported laboratory or epidemiological reports indicating any association between VOIs/VUMs and increased disease severity.”

To avoid miscommunication of health risks, the DOH avoids using "FLiRT" to refer to the subvariants as the term is also “informal and casual.”

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