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The data shows how the lambda COVID-19 variant could possibly escape vaccines. One of the leading researchers in a new study calls lambda “a potential threat to human society.”
Scientific researchers continue to try to get a pearl on the lambda variant of COVID-19, which initial and, so far, not peer-reviewed research suggests could potentially be vaccine resistant. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the University of Tokyo, in a study published on bioRxiv, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. Their findings mirror those of a study published several weeks ago – also not yet peer reviewed – by Chilean investigators.
The study by researchers at the University of Tokyo indicates that two mutations in the lambda variant – T76I and L452Q – make it more infectious than the variant that shook health systems around the world around the same time. last year – D614G, the so-called wild type. (It is not yet clear whether the lambda variant is more contagious than the Delta variant, which in many places around the world, including the United States, is now the dominant variant and also comes with
a host of challenges for healthcare systems.) Additionally, the study states, “the RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation, a unique 7 amino acid deletion mutation in the N-terminal domain of the lambda spike protein, is responsible for escape of neutralizing antibodies Researchers discovered the mutations in laboratory experiments.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the lambda variant – or C.37 variant – has been the carrier of COVID-19 in about 81% of infections in Peru since April. The variant was first identified in Peru in August 2020. The WHO declared the lambda variant of interest (VOI) on June 14, a designation which means it could pose a greater risk than the variant. wild type.
To put it mildly, according to investigators at the University of Tokyo, who want the WHO to label the lambda variant as a variant of concern (VOC) to warn health systems around the world that this could be their next big challenge. They write that “because the lambda variant is a VOI, one could consider that this variant is not a permanent threat from pandemic VOCs. However, since the lambda variant is relatively resistant to vaccine-induced antisera, it is possible that this variant is likely to cause a breakthrough infection. “
Kei Sato, PhD, a senior researcher at the University of Tokyo and one of the study’s 2 lead authors, told Reuters that lambda “may be a potential threat to human society.”
The study indicates that “since the Lambda variant spread dominantly with increasing frequency of isolates harboring the RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation, our data suggests that the insertion of the RSYLTPGD246-253N mutation is closely associated with the massive spread of Lambda strain infection. variant in South America.
According to the data collection organization GISAID Initiative, there have been 1,037 cases of lambda in the United States.
Pablo Tsukayama, PhD, is a molecular microbiologist at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru, and has been following lambda since its inception. He told Al Jazeera on July 27 that “when we found him he didn’t get a lot of attention. But we continued to process the samples, and in March it was in 50% of the samples in Lima. In April, it was in 80% of samples in Peru…. This leap of [1%] at 50% is an early indicator of a more transmissible variant. “
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