Reports of Covid variant LP.8.1 – a descendant of the Omicron variant – being on the rise in Australia have emerged in recent weeks, with The Conversation reporting it was behind close to one in five cases in NSW earlier this month.

The World Health Organisation said in February the variant was one of two rising internationally, though it deemed the additional public health risk to be low at a global level.

University of NSW molecular virology expert Stuart Turville said despite increasing concerns, the Covid variant’s impact was unlikely to be as serious in Australia as may be feared.

“This is really more of the same, with just some nice slight tweaks on what the virus is doing,” Associate Professor Turville told NewsWire.

“They become more adept at navigating antibodies in people that have been vaccinated (or) become infected … which make it a little bit more slippery to get past what we refer to as neutralising antibodies.”

This essentially means that the new strain is stronger, but only slightly so.

“The other thing that it does – and this is what we’re trying to get a greater understanding of – is that it changed its mode of how it sticks to cells and enters cells,” Professor Turville said.

He said Aussies were still facing a “very similar virus” to that seen last year, with only incremental changes making it easier to get past a person’s immune defences.

“But we’re not talking a big jump like between Delta and Omicron,” Professor Turville said.

Even if they no longer need to brace for the worst, Australians are being urged to consider a booster vaccine to protect loved ones and vulnerable members of the community.

“A lot of us probably haven’t had a booster in 12 months,” Professor Turville said.

“The way I kind of see this is the way I kind of see any respiratory disease … we all go and get a flu shot, right? And we generally do that (annually).

“So it’s probably something that I’ll do in the next few weeks coming into winter.”

“’I’ve got elderly parents and to protect them and to make sure I can look after them in the future, I’ll go and get a booster and kind of mitigate it that way.”

It comes as doctors predict a harsh flu season, and cases of both measles and Legionnaires’ disease have been detected in Australia in recent months.

NSW Health confirmed earlier this month that a man in his 50s had died from Legionnaires’ disease, and were probing another several cases of the deadly illness contracted in Sydney.

Measles has also run rampant so far this year, with Victoria and NSW expected to smash last year’s case numbers and Western Australia surpassing its 2024 total by early April.

Doctors have also wasted no time reminding Australians to get their flu vaccine, warning it could be serious or even fatal after thousands were hospitalised in the 2024 flu season.

Professor Turville urged Australians against “pandemic scarring” or fatigue from talking or hearing about vaccines, and to stay home if they did fall ill.

“It’s being considerate that there are people in the community that may have it worse than others,” he said.

“Is it really fair on your co-workers to inflict that sickness or illness that you’ve got, even though it might be mild … especially during winter.”

“All of these respiratory infections that might be mild for the general population, once you start getting into aged care facilities and people for the elderly that you’re caring for at home, it does hit them a lot harder than it does hit us.

“Just stay home and get over it quicker and don’t take it home … don’t take it to work, give it to your colleagues.

“I think it’s just a base of consideration … if we do it, we can kind of mitigate the spread of not only Covid but other respiratory infections as we come into winter.”