First cases of COVID Lambda variant reported in northern Louisiana

BATON ROUGE – The new COVID Lambda variant has been detected in Louisiana, doctors told WBRZ on Thursday.

It was first reported in the United States in Houston, and health officials believe that since Texas and Louisiana share a border, the variant of the virus has easily spread.

“I know that with the proximity to Texas, there have been a few cases detected in northern Louisiana with the Lamda variant. But we don’t know if it will be a more aggressive or less aggressive virus. “said Dr Aldo. Russo, Ochsner’s medical director said.

Dr Russo said the Lambda variant has yet to be detected in the capital region, but medical professionals are testing it.

“We are monitoring this very closely. Our teams are sequencing the different variants,” said Dr Russo.

The Lambda variant was first reported in Peru in December and has become the dominant strain of the virus there. This is worrying for the country because the vaccine used in Peru is not effective against this new variant.

“They said there might be some resistance to the vaccine, but it was a different vaccine that they were using. They were using the Chinese vaccine,” Dr Russo said.

It is not known to what extent the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will help control this new variant.

“It is too early to tell, but we believe the vaccine works against [the] variant also, ”said Dr Russo.

Dr Russo echoed healthcare messages from almost everywhere else: The best way to fight the Lambda variant is to increase the vaccination rate.