India has detected ‘double mutant variant’ of COVID-19

India on Wednesday reported the existence of a “double mutant variant” of SARS-CoV-2, in addition to other imported strains, in studies carried out in several states of the country, in in the middle of a second wave of infections which continues to increase, with 47,262 new cases and 275 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The Indian Consortium on SARS-CoV-2 Genomics (INSACOG), a consortium of ten national laboratories formed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has confirmed that this new mutation has been detected, especially in the western state of Maharashtra after several virus genome sequencing tests.

“Analysis of samples from Maharashtra revealed that, compared to December 2020, there was an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q mutations Yes L452R “explains the report, adding that “these mutations were found in 15-20 percent of samples and they do not coincide with any previously cataloged VOC ”.

In the southern state of Kerala they sequenced 2032 samples of the N440K variant, which had already been detected in 16 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

This variant of SARS-CoV-2 was also found in 33% of the samples analyzed at the state of Andhra Pradesh and in 53 of the 104 tests Telangana, both located in southern India.

They also detected in the 10,787 tests analyzed by INACOG, 736 cases of British strain, 34 people infected with the South African variant and a sample of the Brazilian variant.

However, the report points out that “although they have found several disturbing strains and an new double mutant variant in India, they were not detected in sufficient number to establish or relate the rapid increase in cases in some states ”.

In this sense, INSACOG will continue with epidemiological and genomic sequencing studies to analyze the situation in more detail and thus be able to determine an answer.

Authorities have warned that these new variants require the same epidemiological and public health response as other strains detected in other countries, such as “The follow-up of close contacts, the immediate isolation of positive points, as well as the follow-up of the national protocol established by each region” from Asian country.

The announcement of the new variant takes place in second full wave of infections in India, with 47,262 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, in contrast to the optimistic moment experienced last month, when less than 10,000 daily positives were detected.

With these new cases, total number of infections in India exceeds 11.7 million, which keeps it as the third country with the most confirmed positive results, only behind the United States and Brazil.

This second wave advances towards figures increasingly close to those recorded at the height of the pandemic last September, when there were nearly 100,000 new positives daily, this is why he was urged to speed up the vaccination process in the country, which surpassed the 50 million doses administered on Wednesday.

(With information from EFE)

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