A new COVID-19 variant detected in India
It hasn't been long since the COVID-19 cases in India started to decline after having claimed several lives. And now researchers have warned about a new variant of the virus which can cause severe symptoms. The new SARS-CoV-2 variant has been detected by the National Institute of Virology, Pune from genome sequencing samples collected from international travellers from the UK and Brazil.
How the variant was detected
The new B.1.1.28.2 variant was isolated from nasal and throat swabs of international travellers, which were later assessed in the Syrian hamster model and compared with the B.1 variant. The findings of the study revealed that the new variant can cause severe infection and neutralization reduction can be a great concern.
Symptoms of the new variant
Similar to the original coronavirus, this new variant also affects the upper respiratory system leading to symptoms like breathlessness, fever, cough and dizziness. Along with this, the new variant detected from international travellers can also lead to weight loss, viral replication in the respiratory tract, lung lesions and severe lung infection.
What do the researchers suggest?
Following the discovery of the new powerful variant of coronavirus, the researchers suggested that the finding points towards the necessity of genomic surveillance and characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 variants. They added that this would help to understand the virus's pathogenicity and immune escape potential for preparedness purposes.
Can vaccines neutralise the new strain?
The pre-print study published online on bioRxiv also emphasised on the need for the screening of the vaccine for its efficacy against the new variant of the infectious virus. An uncorrected manuscript of a separate study by NIV mentioned that a two-dose of Covaxin regimen has shown to boost antibody and neutralising ability against the variant.
Previous variant of COVID-19
The news of this new virus comes a week after the WHO (World Health Organisation) stated that out of the three, only one strain of the coronavirus Delta variant first detected in India is now considered “of concern".
The B.1.617 variant of the virus is referred to as a triple mutant variant since it is split into three lineages and is most held accountable for the second wave of coronavirus in the country. The UN's health organisation last month had declared the entire strain of B.1.617 as a “variant of concern", or VOC.
How Delta variant was different from the Alpha variant
The Delta variant of the coronavirus detected in India is more infectious than the Alpha variant first detected in Kent, the UK. In fact, a study suggests that the Delta variant is 50 per cent more contagious than the Alpha. Another study revealed that the Delta variant was responsible for 60 per cent of cases in Delhi this year, which is lead to severe complications in infected patients.