Strange Covid nighttime symptom to watch out for that could mean you have the latest strain

Man lying in bed at home struggling to sleep. (stock image)

Ireland’s health officials have reported another rise in confirmed cases of the new JN.1 Covid variant.

On February 7, 832 cases of the strain were confirmed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

One week on – on February 14 – it said that known infections have risen to 980, marking a 17.79% increase in seven days.

In its latest report, the HPSC said that the JN.1 variant has “rapidly increased” since November and that “there are likely to be increases in case numbers”. However, it added: “There is no indication of impact of vaccine effectiveness or increased disease severity as compared to other circulating variants.”

“A new variant with an unusually high number of mutations, BA.2.86, was detected in Israel first on August 13th 2023 and eventually spread globally though at relatively low prevalence. A sublineage of BA.2.86, JN.1, since however emerged rapidly and has become the predominant variant globally. It was made a Variant of Interest by the WHO on December 19th 2023 due to this rapid rise. An updated WHO risk evaluation published February 9th 2024 indicates that it possesses some antigenic advantage allowing it to evade previous immunity. However, while there are likely to be increases in case numbers, there is no indication of impact of vaccine effectiveness or increased disease severity as compared to other circulating variants.

“There have been 980 COVID-19 cases confirmed as infected with the JN.1 lineage to date in Ireland. Of these cases, 329 (33.6%) were associated with outbreaks in hospital or healthcare settings. JN.1 and its sublineages now predominate sequenced cases in Ireland and between week 1 to week 5 2024 in Ireland accounting for 82.4% of sequences in this time period.

“There have been 1,421 COVID-19 cases confirmed as infected with ‘XBB.1.5-like + F456L’lineages to date in Ireland.

“There have been 247 COVID-19 cases confirmed as infected with ‘XBB.1.5-like + L455F +F456L’ ‘FLip’ lineages to date in Ireland.”

It comes as some people infected with the JN.1 strain are reporting an unpleasant symptom at night.

The new JN.1 variant shares common symptoms with previous strains, such as a runny nose, cough and headache, however, the UK’s Office for National Statistics recently uncovered two additional ‘warning signs’: Trouble sleeping and worry/anxiety.

List of reported symptoms

• Runny nose
• Cough
• Headache
• Weakness or tiredness
• Muscle ache
• Sore throat
• Trouble sleeping
• Worry or anxiety

The HSE lists fatigue, a high temperature/having chills and a dry cough as the top three Covid symptoms to watch out for.

Less common symptoms of Covid, according to the HSE, include loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, runny or blocked nose, conjunctivitis, sore throat, headache, muscle or joint pain, different types of skin rash, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea and chills or dizziness.

If you have any of these symptoms, the HSE advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone.

If you test positive for Covid, the current advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days from the date you first had symptoms.

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