New Jersey Study Warns That Omicron Subvariants Such as JN.1 And KP.3.1.1 Causes More Damage to Lung Tissues!
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jun 05, 2025 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes ago
Medical News: Subvariants and Their Sub-lineages Are Not Mild as Claimed, Posing Fresh Threats to Lung Health and Immunity
A team of scientists from the Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey has raised new concerns over the evolving behavior of SARS-CoV-2. In their latest findings, researchers report that the most recent Omicron subvariants, particularly the KP.3.1.1 strain, not only evade existing antibody treatments but also inflict significant damage on lung tissues. Even more alarmingly, when these subvariants coinfect individuals alongside common respiratory viruses like Influenza A H1N1 or Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), the effects on lung tissue are intensified.
New Jersey Study Warns That Omicron Subvariants Such as JN.1 And KP.3.1.1 Causes More
Damage to Lung Tissues!
This
Medical News report is based on a detailed experimental study that used human bronchial airway epithelial cells to simulate how these viruses behave in the human respiratory system. The goal was to better understand how these new viral strains replicate, trigger immune responses, and interact with other co-circulating viruses. What the researchers found could have major implications for public health and the future direction of COVID-19 treatments.
Thailand
Medical News would like to add that during initial acute infections, these gradual damage to the lung tissues might not be felt and may be asymptomatic till the later stages.
Antibodies No Longer Effective Against New Subvariants
The study tested the effectiveness of both commercial monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma collected from unvaccinated individuals who recovered from earlier COVID-19 waves. While these treatments were successful against the original strain (WA1/2020) and early Omicron variants, they failed to neutralize recent versions such as JN.1 and its descendant KP.3.1.1. In fact, all three antibodies tested – including bebtelovimab and casirivimab – showed neutralizing activity below 50% for the newest subvariants.
Sequencing of these new viral strains revealed that their spike (S) proteins had accumulated additional mutations not present in earlier versions. These mutations were likely responsible for the reduced effectiveness of antibodies, allowing the virus to escape the immune system more easily.
Coinfections Intensify Lung Cell Damage
Using highly specialized air-liquid interface models, the researchers infected lab-grown human bronchial airway epithelial cells (hBAECs) with either the Omicron subvariants alone or in combination with Influenza A H1N1 or RSV. The KP.3.1.1 variant caused far more damage to the cells than even the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, showing a severe cytopathic effect.
More troubling was what happened during coinfections. When KP.3.1.1 was introduced along with Influenza A H1N1 or RSV, the resulting damage was signi
ficantly worse. The epithelial layers in the lungs were highly disorganized and inflamed, with large areas of tissue breakdown. This kind of disruption could make it easier for pathogens to invade deeper lung tissues, increasing the risk of severe respiratory illness.
Virus Loads and Inflammation Significantly Higher
Further tests showed that the KP.3.1.1 variant replicated faster and reached higher viral loads in both the surface (apical) and lower (basolateral) parts of the lung tissue models compared to older strains. When combined with RSV, the virus not only replicated more but also caused greater disruption of lung barrier integrity.
The infections also triggered an intense inflammatory response. Levels of key cytokines like IL-6, TNF-alpha, IFN-beta, and IL-10 were significantly elevated in both monoinfections and especially during coinfections. This high level of immune signaling is often linked to lung inflammation, tissue damage, and potentially life-threatening complications like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Conclusions and Public Health Implications
The study presents serious implications for current treatment strategies against COVID-19. Existing antibody therapies and convalescent plasma are no longer effective against the rapidly evolving Omicron subvariants. The new strains not only replicate more efficiently but also damage lung tissues more severely, especially when coinfections occur with common seasonal viruses. This increases the potential burden on healthcare systems, particularly during the colder months when influenza and RSV are more prevalent.
It also underscores the need for ongoing surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and for updating vaccines and treatments accordingly. Public health authorities may also need to consider broader testing protocols to detect coinfections early and manage them more aggressively.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202505.2361/v1
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/japanese-study-finds-35-5-percent-of-omicron-cases-develop-long-covid-debunking-milder-variant-myth
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