Triple Mutant Variant causes growing concern as India battles 2nd COVID wave
New Delhi: As the second wave of COVID-19 continues to wreaks havoc in India, the experts are flagging changes in the pattern in which this pandemic is manifesting itself in the country. A relatively younger population is calling in sick and doctors are worried about seeing children showing symptoms. A plethora of new symptoms continue to emerge creating confusion among the healthcare providers.
There are now several mutant strains of the virus in circulation across India, with a few mutations, labeled as mutations of concern and are believed to be responsible for the rapidly climbing caseload.
While experts were still scrambling in their response over the double mutant strain B.1.617 found last month, there is now a third mutation to prompt growing concern in India and abroad. The Covid-19 virus that is doing the rounds in Bengal is increasingly being found to be an indigenous triple-mutation (B.1.618).
The IGIB is part of the Indian SARS-Cov-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG), which was set up to monitor and study whether Indians were getting foreign variants through travelers. It was during these studies that the double mutant variant (containing the E484Q and L452R mutations) was identified, mainly from Maharashtra samples.
The proportion of B.1.618 has been growing significantly in recent months in Bengal," said Vinod Scaria, "along with B.1.617 it forms a major lineage in Bengal", he added
He goes on to explain that the new strain is characterized by the deletion of two amino acids (H146del and Y145del), as well as possessing E484K and D614G variants in spike protein. All this, according to him, helps in increased infectivity capabilities
"This is a more transmissible variant. It is making lots of people sick very quickly. We have to keep tweaking vaccines. For that, we need to understand the disease. But we need sequencing on a war footing," NDTV quoted Dr Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University, as saying.
Experts are now calling for faster genome sequencing in order to monitor the behavior of the mutants in terms of severity and transmissibility. Notably, genome sequencing produces a wealth of information that can throw light on the origins of the virus, the routes it has taken to reach particular geography, and the changes, or mutations, that are making the virus stronger or weaker. This data is crucial for evolving the vaccines and drugs in order to check the spread of pandemic in the community
"Mutation in the respiratory virus is a natural process. This process is augmented in situations of high spread and presence of vaccinated people in the community. We will see more variants in India in future too," Dr Harshal R. Salve, Associate Professor at Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS New Delhi, told IANS.
So far sources indicate that the triple mutation is a variant of concern and could be driving a steep surge of cases across various states.The experts are pressing in for a faster rollout of vaccines to cover a significant population to ward off the danger caused by the triple mutant and future mutations.
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