BHUBANESWAR: Amid a slow uptick in Covid infections following the emergence of highly transmissible JN.1, Odisha on Wednesday reported the first suspected death of the season and the first case of the new SARS-CoV2 sub-variant prompting health authorities to intensify surveillance and testing. Sources said, a 54-year-old man, who had tested positive for Covid-19 last week succumbed while undergoing treatment at a corporate hospital in the city. He was suffering from valvular heart disease and COVID-19 infection aggravated the comorbid conditions.
However, the state health authorities have not officially announced the Covid death. A senior health official said, the middle-aged person had valvular heart disease and died of cardiogenic shock. “A death audit will be conducted to ascertain if Covid was the primary cause of his death. The cycle threshold (CT) value of his sample tested through RTPCR was 32, which is very low,” the official said and maintained that the districts have been asked to step up testing and monitor the people returning from other affected states.
Odisha is among 10 states in the country that have detected the presence of the new variant. So far, 511 cases of JN.1 have been found with Karnataka accounting for 199 cases, the highest among states, followed by 148 cases from Kerala. WHO has classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest given its immune evasion capability and potential to spread rapidly.
Health department sources said the new variant has been detected in a sample drawn from a student of a technical institute of national repute. He recently returned from his native place in Kerala and tested COVID-19 positive. “He had developed symptoms on his arrival here. Since the south Indian state has already recorded several cases of JN.1, his sample was sent to the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) for sequencing. The test result has already been intimated to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). His condition is now stable,” said the sources.
JN.1, a sub-variant of the Omicron lineage, is more transmissible as compared to the previous strains of this series. According to health experts, it spreads faster than the other Omicron variants and has common symptoms like fever, cough, cold, headache, gastrointestinal disorders and breathing issues.
Senior internal medicine specialist Dr Niroj Mishra said though it does not cause more disease severity, people with comorbidities and elderly persons must be vigilant and cautious as the sub-variant can perform immune escape by disrupting antibody binding. Meanwhile, the state reported five more new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The fresh cases were detected among 319 samples tested during the period. The active cases stood at 27 after the recovery of two patients.
Virus worry
The man who died was suffering from valvular heart disease. Odisha is among 10 states in the country where the new variant has been detected. The state reported five more COVID cases in the last 24 hours.
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