Fear for India’s new ‘double mutant’ strain of coronavirus

India on Wednesday reported the existence of a “double mutant variant” coronavirus, in addition to other imported strains, in studies in several states across the country, amid a second wave of infections that continues to rise, with 47,262 new cases and 275 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The Indian Consortium on the Genomics of SARS-CoV-2 (INSACOG), a group of ten national laboratories formed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, confirmed that this new mutation was mainly detected, 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 and L452R mutations,” the report explains, adding that “these mutations were found in about 15-20% of the samples and they do not coincide with any previously cataloged VOCs. “

In the southern state of Kerala, 2,032 samples of the N440K variant have been sequenced, previously detected in 16 other countries, including the UK, Denmark, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

This variant of SARS-CoV-2 has also been found in 33% of samples tested in Andhra Pradesh state and in 53 of 104 tests in 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 vBrazilian Ariante.

However, the report points out that “although several disturbing strains and a new double mutant variant have been discovered in India, not detected in sufficient numbers to establish or link the rapid increase in cases in some states“.

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

The genetic code of a virus works like an instruction manual. In this sense, mutations are common, they do not affect the ability of the virus to reproduce. In some cases, like the British or South African strain, this can make it more contagious and deadly.

“A double mutation is two changes that occur at the same time in the same virus,” virologist Shahid Jameel told the BBC. “If these mutations occur in certain key areas of the viral protein, the risks may be increased because bypass the immune system and make it more contagious“, complete.

Authorities have warned that these new variants require the same epidemiological and public health response as other strains detected in other countries, such as “monitoring of close contacts, immediate isolation of positives, as well as monitoring of Protocol established by each region. “From the country of Asia.

The announcement of the new variant comes amid India’s second wave of infections, with 47,262 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, in contrast to the moment of optimism experienced last month, when fewer than 10,000 positives daily newspapers were detected.

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

This second wave is advancing towards figures increasingly close to those recorded during the peak of the pandemic last September, when there were nearly 100,000 new positives daily, which is why he has been urged to speed up the process. vaccination in the country, which exceeded this Wednesday. the 50 million doses administered.

With information from EFE.

JPE