Feeling FLiRTy

It finally happened.  After more than four years of caution, masking, and about seven vaccinations, I tested positive for COVID.  Honestly, I don’t know many people who haven’t had it by now, so I was beginning to joke that I might just be immune, like the characters in “The Stand” [1] (which, of course, was required viewing in the early days of 2020). 

Long-time readers of this blog may remember that on our last day in Italy in October 2022, Christian tested positive after (we think) catching the virus from a sick American couple at a car museum in Modena.  I was not at the museum, instead choosing to spend my time in Siena, hiking alone in unfamiliar woods without cell service or a map. (Who, ultimately, made better choices that day?  Who’s to say?)  Despite sharing rooms, car rides, and meals together while he was developing symptoms, I never caught the virus, but after three negative tests over 18 hours, I did catch a solo flight home, leaving Christian to recover on his own in Rome. [2]

Downfall

The fact that I never tested positive after Italy surprised me, but it didn’t lead me to drop my guard entirely.  Through ebbs and flows in cases, I still generally wore a mask when on public transportation or in enclosed spaces with people who interact with many individuals over the course of the day (doctors, for example), and I absolutely continued to get new booster shots when they became available.  When it came to travel (vacations specifically), I began to loosen my standards a little bit to the point that I would still mask when taking public transportation (in taxis, buses, airplanes, and in airports), but not much else… and then I relaxed my standards even more our recent journey home from Fiji.

I will never know for sure when or where I picked it up or – since we were literally traveling from the other side of the world – what strain I got.  What I do know is that we were in five different airports over the course of three days, with immune systems that were already stressed.  Still reeling from a gut infection we picked up one week prior, I was exhausted, nauseous, and dehydrated.  While double-fisting water and herbal tea in the airport lounge, I simply didn’t don my N95 before our long-haul flight from Nadi to Los Angeles.  Although Christian has long since stopped masking on planes, I am definitely the one who caught it – and of the two of us, I am clearly generous enough to share with my spouse.

The reason I am completely burying the lede with the fact we traveled to Fiji in the first place (as part of my Climate Lab program [3]) is because my recent COVID experience may be the result of a new set of variants that are on the rise in the US this summer, and if this post helps keep even one more person protected, it will have been well worth the sacrifice of my intended blog schedule.  (You can be sure that there will be plenty of content on climate change adaptation in Fiji in future posts.)  Since adaptation is the name of the game for survival, that is exactly what the coronavirus is doing – and it’s doing it well.

Alphabet Soup

The new variants, dubbed “FLiRT,” reference changes to amino acid positions in the virus’ spike proteins, specifically related to phenylalanine (F), leucine (L), arginine (R), and threonine (T).  Of course, that name is much catchier than previous strings of letters and numbers we’ve seen on variants in more recent years, and at least that has people talking about COVID again, if for no other reason than to make puns (myself included).  The reason why it’s important to keep talking about COVID is because it isn’t gone.  As of two weeks ago, we were still averaging almost 40 COVID-related deaths every day in the United States,  [4] and it appears that FLiRT may – appropriately – be more transmissible than the previously dominant variant, with a quicker incubation period.

If you can remember all the way back to Christmas 2021, the Omicron variant was on the rise, but we finally had vaccines to protect us and at-home tests to verify our health. [6] Similar to what we see with seasonal flu, the coronavirus continues to mutate over time, with slight differences in how it affects people who catch it.  Important note: statistical trends and individual experience are very different things, and your mileage may vary depending on your own health factors.  The boosters that come out each year attempt to keep pace with recent mutations and offer the best protection available based on trends in how the virus evolves, but as advanced as we are in dealing with the virus, we’re still a step behind.

The booster that became available in Fall 2023 focused on the XBB.1.5 variant (which was descended from Omicron), but by the end of that year, JN.1 (also an Omicron variant) was the dominant strain in the US and exhibited some resistance to the XBB.1.5 vaccine.  An FDA panel voted last week (June 5) to target JN.1 in the next round of vaccines, in alignment with recommendations from the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency. [7]  Pfizer and Moderna expect to have their JN.1 vaccines available in the fall, but we’re already seeing that, as of Spring 2024, KP.2 (one of the FLiRT variants, related to JN.1) is now the dominant strain in the US and is demonstrating some additional resistance to the XBB.1.5 vaccine.

Constant Vigilance

Again, I don’t know where I picked up my case of COVID – it could have been in a taxi in Nadi, on a plane over the Pacific, or during a 10-hour layover in one of the world’s busiest airports.  I do know that it had been over seven months since my XBB.1.5 booster, which we also know is less effective against the new variants – but that’s not to say the latest vaccine doesn’t play a critical role in providing protection.  With as bad as I’ve felt, between exhaustion, coughing, congestion, and headache, I couldn’t imagine how bad my case might be if I hadn’t been vaccinated, and that realization has once again made me especially cautious when interacting with people I know who have not received recent (or any) vaccinations.

I thankfully have not lost anyone to COVID, and I am incredibly grateful for that, but it terrified me when I recently heard my dad describing the same lingering symptoms I’ve had for the past month.  This whole experience has been a reminder that, while the pandemic is officially over, COVID is not a thing of the past.  But it’s also important to remember that whether or not we have to contend with this new FLiRTy variant, we can continue to follow the same general guidance to limit the spread of the coronavirus: wear a mask, wash your hands, improve ventilation, and stay aware of COVID hotspots if and when they arise. [9]  

Although we have seen indications that FLiRT has demonstrated additional resistance to the most recent vaccine, doctors are still recommending that vaccine in order to provide some level of protection. And for people over 65 who have already received it, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended getting an additional booster in spring 2024. [10]  If you do catch the virus, it seems that Paxlovid should continue to be generally effective, regardless of variant, since it works against the non-spiked part of the virus. [11]  (I didn’t feel great while taking it, and it took a full two weeks for me to test negative again, but if it ultimately helped reduce severity of symptoms, I still think it was probably worth it.)

I continue to wish that our response to the coronavirus had stayed in the realm of public health and had not been dragged into the realm of politics, but I suppose that is a naive mindset – particularly at a time when our news outlets and the technologies that support them are designed to play to our emotions more than our capacity for rational thought.  I recognize that in addition to contending with a life-threatening virus, we are also contending with an “us vs. them” mentality dictated by how we respond to said virus.  

My response, now that I’ve had COVID, will once again be one that exercises more caution, especially if we’re seeing another rise in cases.  I am (reasonably) young and (reasonably) healthy, but this last month has been difficult for me, especially with the lingering exhaustion I really couldn’t afford at work or at home.  Now that I’ve experienced it myself, my newfound caution is in no small way influenced by my concern over potentially giving the coronavirus to someone who may be less physically resilient than I am. I feel bad enough having shared it with Christian (who is fine, by the way), but I hope the sharing ended there.

Wishing you a happy – and healthy – summer.
Thanks for reading.

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[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108941/

[2] https://radicalmoderate.online/when-life-hands-you-amalfi-lemons/

[3] https://radicalmoderate.online/tag/climate-lab/

[4] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/biweekly-covid-deaths?tab=chart

[5] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/biweekly-covid-deaths?tab=chart

[6] https://radicalmoderate.online/covid-episode-ix-the-rise-of-omicron/

[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/05/fda-panel-recommends-new-covid-vaccines-for-jn1-lineage-by-fall/

[8] https://x.com/tryangregory/status/1767884323938869586?t=NM6QgCzjQYBje9-ZtyxSvg

[9] https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/3-things-to-know-about-flirt-new-coronavirus-strains

[10] https://www.idsociety.org/covid-19-real-time-learning-network/diagnostics/covid-19-variant-update/#/+/0/publishedDate_na_dt/desc/

[11] https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/3-things-to-know-about-flirt-new-coronavirus-strains

[12] https://www.paxlovid.com/about

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