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The World Health Organization recently classified the mu variant of COVID-19 as a “variant of interest.” Spectrum News took a look at what medical professionals know – and the impact of the mu variant in Florida. Here are five things to know:
1. What is the mu variant?
According to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update released on August 31, mu is a strain of COVID-19 that was first identified in January in Colombia.
“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential immune evasion properties,” the report reads.
Dr Nicole Iovine, infectious disease specialist and chief epidemiologist at UF Health Hospital in Gainesville, said current vaccines may not offer a higher level of protection against mu compared to other variants.
“We don’t have a clear idea of how many people vaccinated, for example, are expected to develop a breakthrough infection with mu, say, compared to delta or any of the other variants,” Iovine said.
WHO has classified mu as a variant of interest.
2. What is the difference between an “interesting variant” and a “worrying variant?
Unlike mu, some variants, including delta, have been classified as variants of concern by the WHO.
Dr. Michael Teng, a virologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of South Florida, likened the classification system to a traffic light.
“At the green level, the variant of interest is what mu is, and it’s kind of the lowest classification. It’s a variant that actually did something in nature that the WHO and the CDC want to follow, ”Teng said.
In mu’s case, Teng said action is becoming the dominant variant in Colombia.
“The worrying variants are a lot like light amber,” Teng said. “So it would be like delta, like alpha, beta, and gamma – variants that actually took over at some point in a number of countries and have some worrying characteristics.”
Teng said the examples are the high level of transmission of alpha and delta variants.
3. What is the extent of the mu variant?
Mu seems to be very rare at the moment. Mu accounts for less than half a percent of COVID cases worldwide, according to the jail.info online database. CDC data shows it accounted for just 0.1% of cases in the United States last week. Florida has more cases of the mu variant than any state except California. Outbreak.info shows that 305 cases have been reported here. Teng said direct flights between Colombia and Florida are one possible reason the number is higher than in other states. Iovine said it’s important to keep this total in perspective. “If you look at the total number of cases we have in Florida… 305 is very few, relatively speaking,” she said.
Dr Nicole Iovine, chief epidemiologist of the hospital @ UFSanté explains what ‘immune breakout’ means and what we know – or don’t know – so far about it when it comes to #mu. @ BN9 # bn9covid19 pic.twitter.com/HW26RrzrWX
– Sarah Blazonis (@SarahBlazonis) September 9, 2021
4. What impact might the delta variant have on the propagation of mu?
The WHO said it plans to monitor the mu in South America, especially its co-circulation with the Delta.
“We don’t know how well it rivals Delta,” Teng said. “The Delta has significantly higher transmissibility than any of the other variants we’ve seen previously, and so we’ve seen the Delta take over across the world.”
Iovine said if delta cases do not decrease, mu will likely have a hard time spreading.
“If you had delta and mu in a boxing ring, delta is going to win. It’s a lot more transferable, hit much higher levels. So, delta is always going to win in this fight,” said Iovine.
5. Should we be particularly concerned about mu?
Teng and Iovine say no. According to Teng, very recent evidence suggests that despite its mutations, mu is still susceptible to the immunity built up from vaccines.
“We had a bit of a decrease in the efficacy of the vaccine against beta and gamma, and it seems to be less with mu than with gamma. So the vaccine works better against mu than with beta or gamma,” Teng said.
Iovine offers words of caution.
“One thing I would say, however, that we have learned through this pandemic is that things can change. As long as there are a lot of unvaccinated people, the virus will continue to mutate, and we will continue to mutate. have variants I think the nightmarish scenario would be the emergence of a variant with delta transmissibility and significant vaccine escape. “
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