Indian variant of COVID-19 detected in group of students in Belgium

The Indian variant of covid-19 was first detected in Belgium in a group of students who arrived this month from India via a Paris airport.

A total of 20 Indian students tested positive for the new variant and were quarantined in the Flemish cities of Aalst (11) and Leuven (9), where they arrived in mid-April for training. nurse.

According to various experts, a “supercontagator” could have infected their group during the bus trip that took them from the Paris region to Belgium.

“These students maintain strict isolation as soon as they arrive. 20 of the 43 students are infected today because of the Indian variant, ”tweeted microbiologist Emmanuel André, from the Catholic University of Louvain.

Virologist Marc Van Ranst told Flemish radio that the group landed at Paris-Charles de Gaulle international airport on April 12 and that five days later several students fell ill with symptoms of the virus.

The analyzes carried out made it possible to diagnose the presence of the Indian variant, already identified in the United Kingdom.

In Belgium, a country of 11.5 million inhabitants, the pandemic has killed 24,000 and the hospital system has been under pressure for a month due to the third wave, marked by the presence of the British variant.

Unknown on the Indian variant

After the British, South African and Brazilian variants, India is also raising concerns given its characteristics and the rapidly deteriorating health situation in India, although there is no indication to date that it is more contagious. or more resistant to vaccines.

This variant, called B.1.617, was spotted in western India in October.

He is described as a “double mutant” because contains two mutations Potentially disturbing, linked to the spike protein that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter the human body. The first, E484Q, resembles that of the South African and Brazilian variants, E484K, suspected of making vaccination less effective and increasing the risk of re-infection. The second, L452R, is also present in a variant detected in California, and may be able to cause increased transmission.

This is the first time that the two mutations have been detected in a variant with significant diffusion.

The concern is therefore that this variant is more resistant to vaccines intended to fight against previous strains of Covid-19 and, at the same time, that it is more contagious.

“The 484 mutation may be partially responsible for immune failure, but it is not enough on its own. It must eventually be associated with other mutations that we do not see in the Indian variant, “said French virologist Bruno Lina on Wednesday.

“In a week or two we will have a more quantitative estimate of the variant’s reaction to the vaccine,” Rakesh Mishra of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India told AFP.

In addition, The situation in India, facing an explosion of infections and deaths despite having so far succeeded in minimizing the impact of the pandemic, is causing concern among many countries trying to mitigate it through campaigns massive vaccination programs.

The UK on Monday restricted seats on that country’s flights to its residents, after confirmation from 103 cases of the “Indian” variant on its territory. For its part, France on Wednesday included India in the list of countries whose travelers must submit to a mandatory quarantine.

But There is no evidence for the moment that this variant is responsible for the worsening of the epidemic in India.

“For the moment, no link has been established between the emergence of this variant and the recent deterioration of the epidemiological situation”, underlined the French public health agency in its last analysis on this subject, dated April 8. . “It is possible that this degradation is at least partially due to the massive congregations that have recently taken place across the country and insufficient adoption of preventive measures among the general population,” according to Public Health France.

In addition, months after being detected, this variant has not been imposed at all in the country, unlike the British for example. Even in Maharastra (central) state, where he was born, it accounted for only 15-20% of samples sequenced in March, according to the health ministry. And it is even more in the minority in the rest of India.

With information from AFP

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