Lambda COVID variant, showing vaccine resistance, detected in Louisiana

The first cases of the Lambda variant of COVID, which shows vaccine resistance in Tokyo, Japan, have been detected in Louisiana, as the country continues to respond to the increase in cases and hospitalizations caused by the Delta variant.

WBRZ reported Thursday that the Lambda variant, which is believed to have originated in Peru and was first reported in the United States in Houston, Texas, has now been registered in northern Louisiana, which shares a border with the Lone Star State.

Dr Aldo Russo, medical director of Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson, Louisiana, told the local outlet that the Lambda variant has been registered in the state, saying “there have been a few cases detected in the north. from Louisiana with the Lambda variant. “

Russo has confirmed that the variant has yet to be detected in Louisiana’s capital Baton Rouge, but said medical professionals statewide are testing it.

He said medical professionals were “not yet sure whether this would be a more aggressive or less aggressive virus,” but played down reports from Tokyo that it is resistant to COVID vaccines.

Research by a team at the University of Tokyo, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that three mutations in Lambda’s spike protein help it resist neutralization by antibodies induced by the vaccine.

Two mutations in the Lambda variant – T76I and L452Q – make it more infectious than the COVID variant that swept the world in 2020, according to the study.

“They said there may be some resistance to the vaccine, but it was a different vaccine that they were using. They were using the Chinese vaccine,” Russo said of the study, explaining that it was too early to tell. whether shots licensed for use in the United States will provide sufficient protection.

Asked by WBRZ about the best way to fight the newer variants of COVID, Russo said people need to get vaccinated against the virus to be protected.

Groundbreaking cases in the United States are very rare and although the graph below provided by Statista shows that approximately 6,000 people have contracted COVID after being vaccinated, the number is still very low compared to 165 million people. fully vaccinated in the country.

The United States has seen COVID-related hospitalizations more than triple in the past month as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus continues to spread across the country.

The United States recorded 127,108 new cases of COVID on Thursday, compared to 112,270 seen in the country on Wednesday. The United States has now recorded a seven-day average of at least 100,000 new cases over the past week.

Although the Lambda variant is spreading, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) said News week Thursday that the proportion of Lambda cases is very low, with only 0.17% of variant cases being the variant.