WHO to start studying Mu variant of COVID-19 present in Colombia and Ecuador

The Mu variant is one of the 17 mutations of COVID-19. This was first sequenced in Colombia, in January of this year and the World Health Organization (WHO) defined it as a “variant of interest”. The Mu type is given special attention for what happens in Colombia and Ecuador, countries where it represented 39% and 13% of cases, respectively. The variant was also found earlier this year in other countries such as the UK, European Union, US and Hong Kong. but only in 0.1% of cases.

The Mu variant of COVID-19 is now considered “of interest” by the WHO, implying that You will be monitored to know immediately if you have any mutations that could change the mode of transmission, make it more virulent, or reduce the effectiveness of the vaccines currently used to prevent the coronavirus. WHO explained that: “Although the overall prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has decreased and is currently less than 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) is steadily increasing”.

The World Health Organization has defined a method to classify identified species according to the location of the main variants. According to its protocols, it can be divided into two categories: interesting variants and worrisome variants. As new species are identified, they are studied to assess global risks to public health. Sequencing the virus is key to understanding how the pandemic is unfolding around the world and responding as quickly as possible.

However, if you look at this information internationally, it can be seen that the global spread of Mu is decreasing and the number of infected people is very low, unlike the two countries in South America. Cases diagnosed in 39 countries are now classified as “serious” by the WHO.

In collaboration with networks of experts, institutions and researchers, WHO has alerted and assessed the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 since January 2020. The emergence of more risky variants for global public health at the end of 2020 led to the use of the specific categories of “variant of interest” and “variant of concern”., in order to prioritize research on a global scale and guide the response to the pandemic.

Variants of concern include less protection against infection, more severe illness, greater hospitalization or mortality, a significant reduction in neutralizing antibodies produced in a previous infection or vaccination, and decreased drug efficacy. They are known as worry variants: Alpha or British, Beta or South African, Gamma or Brazilian, and Delta or Hindu.

The new mutation called Mu or Colombian species takes its name from the Greek alphabet. Mu, Mi or My is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet and its phoneme corresponds to that of the Spanish “M”. This variant bears this name to give continuity to the study of variants whose names correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet, common in the language of science, and thus to avoid the clinical use of the place of origin of the mutation. .

Less than a quarter of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean has received the full immunization schedule. The director of the UN agency denounced that there are still months before many can be vaccinated. While countries like Chile and Uruguay have vaccinated more than 70% of their population and Panama and Ecuador nearly 60%, countries like Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela have not even vaccinated 10%. of their population., according to the report of Our world in data.

Like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, all viruses change over time. Most of the changes have little or no effect on the nature of the virus. However, Certain changes may have a more significant influence on the diagnosis, such as the spread, the severity of associated diseases and the effectiveness of vaccines..

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