Well ........here we   go  again !!!!!!.......i guess they never    killed enough people with the  first  ......second .......or third  ........ or  whatever .......  contagion  ........time   to unleash a new  contagion    get the  mass of  populli  down again .....i guess  5  million or there  about .......was not  enough .....and of  course ........ i guess the rich .......  need  to make more  money  from misery........  we   all know  we  can  heal ourselves ........ the   body can fight if you trust it  .....  people the  mass of people ......are  lazy and  afraid....... as  soona as a   doctor  says  ...... take  these  pills ........ they do  ....my  ex wife   was a pill junkie.......  took them  for  everything .......she had a  hanbdbag  just for  pills  ........  yes  sirreee!!!!>....bob.......hey if   there was  no    diseases......... there would be no  hospitals  ....... they need   people  to   be  sick .......... these   are  big buildings  to keep air conditioned .......and  running.........   and   doctors  got to pay off   student loans  .......myself..... personally......... i  got  heart   surgery).....operation)..... ...    and i think    that was  genuine .........  i hope it was   unless i was  an experiment.....i eman i was in pretty bad  shape a nd  the  two surgeons  did  save my life     so i guess   some of  it is  the  real deal  .....gracias  adios!!!!!!!!!i should say !!!!!>... ......they extended   my  existence  .......i got  a  heart valve ......  and an  aortic  stint ........that was  an  experience ........ i would  say ........also i would like to  say/brag/boast/that i survived   2  bouts of   covid  19....do not   forget the  19  hat  is when it all started and  fucked  everything up   .....thanks  china  you destructive   bastards   ......  thank you  god to   robotussin .acetamenaphin....and of  course the  great  mexican medical  supplement  ......tequila .......fixed me up.......so   i guess  we   will see  all the  scared sheeple/people/afraid/spineless  (married men )......(nutless).....married men    and  totally fear induced .......  terrified  ...... population who   trust........ and  believe  the  dirt bag...... servile  pay  check cunt  media ......so i guess mister gates  will be  chomping at the  bit   to   eradicate  more lower  echelons .........oh well  !!!!!!!..do not  hate the player   hate the   game  .....   

What to know about 'razor blade throat' caused by newer COVID variant

MARY KEKATOS

Thu, June 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM PDT

5 min read

What to know about 'razor blade throat' caused by newer COVID variant

A newer COVID-19 variant may be causing a severe sore throat in some people who contract the infection.

The variant, known as NB.1.8.1, has been nicknamed by some as "razor blade throat" due to the painful symptom.

MORE: Why are more than 300 people in the US still dying from COVID every week?

Data from the open global genome sequencing database GISAID shows the new variant has been detected in several states, including New York, Illinois, Texas and California.

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Public health experts told ABC News there is no cause for serious concern yet because the virus does not appear to be more severe than previous variants and there are steps that can be taken to protect yourself.

What is NB 1.8.1?

NB.1.8.1 derives from the recombinant variant XVD.1.5.1, which is a descendant of the omicron variant.

The first sample of NB.1.8.1 was collected on Jan. 22, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It was first detected in China and other parts of Asia before spreading to Europe.

It was designated as a "variant under monitoring" by the WHO, meaning it may require prioritized attention and monitoring but is not as serious as a "variant of interest" or a "variant of concern."

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As of the week ending June 7, NB.1.8.1 is the second most dominant variant in the U.S., accounting for an estimated 37% of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images - PHOTO: A 3-D rendering shows the Covid-19 virus omicron variant strain.

The virus appears to be more transmissible because there appear to be changes to the spike protein, which is what the virus uses to attach to and infect cells, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.

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It also seems to attach more easily to ACE2 receptors, which are proteins found on the surface of cells and how the virus that causes COVID enters cells, he told ABC News.

NB.1.8.1 doesn't yet appear to be causing increases in cases or in hospitalizations with rates remaining "stable" so far, according to Chin-Hong.

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The variant has also been called "Nimbus," which appears to have been coined on X by T. Ryan Gregory, a Canadian professor of evolutionary biology.

"Nimbus is a catchy, quick name, and it also includes an 'N' and a 'B' from the lineage, which is NB.1.8.1. So it's easier for people to be able to say these monikers for COVID, rather than remember the actual lineage," said Dr. Alok Potel, a pediatrician at Stanford Children's Health and an ABC News contributor.

"But I think it's important also because it keeps people paying attention to new COVID variants that can be different in terms of infectivity and in terms of spread," he added.

MORE: What we still don't know about COVID 5 years after the WHO declared a pandemic

What are the symptoms?

Experts said they are not sure if the painful sore throat is just a symptom that people are talking about or a distinctive symptom of this variant.

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It's also unclear if the "razor blade throat" is more common in those who are more up to date on vaccination compared to those who are not up to date.

"I think it's certainly amongst the spectrum of symptoms that you can get, and we know that sore throat is reported by about 70% of patients now with COVID, so it's not unusual, and like with everything in medicine, there's always a spectrum," Chin-Hong said.

There is currently no evidence that NB.1.8.1. causes more severe disease or is more likely to cause hospitalization, according to Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville,

MORE: 5 years ago, the WHO declared COVID a pandemic.