A familiar Covid variant is spreading around the U.S. – but the symptoms doctors are seeing are a little different than normal. This summer, the dominant strain is an offshoot of the variant known as XFG or “Stratus,” which was first detected in January 2025. Stratus infections come with the typical consequences of Covid, such as cough and fever.
But there are also more gastrointestinal woes including nausea, vomiting and dehydrating diarrhea, Dr. James Black, medical director of emergency services at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, New York, told WALB on Tuesday. So, I’m certain that it’s changed from what we have seen in the past,” he said.
The warning comes as cases of coronavirus have started to see an end-of-summer surge, according to federal data. Levels are now growing or likely growing in all but two states, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map shows. The percentage of positive tests for Covid has also been rising since June.
Though the current spike in new cases is smaller than past summer surges, Jodie Guest, senior vice chair of the epidemiology department at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told AARP that if it “continues on the path that it’s on, we could anticipate seeing 10 to 15 percent of people in the United States with Covid in this particular wave.” As kids return to school in the next couple of months, that could leave them particularly exposed to the viral strain – though healthy kids are usually at a lower risk of severe infection. However, Stratus isn’t the only variant experts have talked about this year. A strain of omicron known as BA 3.2 and nicknamed “Cicada” was tied to hospitalizations in December and January.
The strain comes with symptoms that the American Journal of Managed Care warned could be confused for a common cold, allergies or the flu. And other new symptoms have been linked to Covid cases in 2025-26, such as red and itchy eyes and a razor blade sore throat. Scientists have warned that Covid will continue to mutate and find new ways to evade human immune system defenses.
Fortunately, updated vaccines are expected this fall, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Health, told CIDRAP News this month. Covid deaths have fallen since last year.
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