News Analysis India

Tag: SARS-CoV-2

  • COVID: Centre warns of ‘inevitable’ third wave, says time-frame for it can not be predicted

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday came up with a grim warning that a third Covid19 wave in India may be inevitable while also admitting for the first time that Indian lineage of SARS CoV 2, B.1.617 may be fueling the massive surge in cases in several states.

    “A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus but it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur. We should prepare for new waves,” said K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Centre said on Wednesday.

    He added that the severity of the Covid-19 disease could be more or less, in the coming times.

    “Variants are transmitted the same as the original strain. It doesn’t have properties of new kinds of transmission. It infects humans in a manner that makes it more transmissible as it gains entry, makes more copies and goes on, same as original,” Raghavan added.

    ALSO READ | Appears Delhi government not taking steps to create oxygen buffer, streamline distribution: HC

    Data shared in the briefing, for the first time, marked the B.1.617 variant of SARS CoV 2, popularly known as double mutant as a “variant of concern”.

    As per the figures, samples collected from at least 18 states—which have undergone genomic surveillance– have shown presence of this variant with a large number of samples from Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana apart from Maharashtra where the variant was first detected.  

    ALSO READ | Delhi received 555 tonnes of oxygen on May 4, highest till now: AAP’s Raghav Chadha

    This variant with –E484Q and L452R together—had first been identified in February and its spread has been growing ever since, overtaking several other variants– including N440K, first identified in Andhra Pradesh and B.1.618, first detected in West Bengal, which suggests that it may be more transmissible.

    Data from other countries suggest that while E484Q can escape antibody neutralisation, L452R is known to increase infectivity.

    Sujeet Kumar Singh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control while sharing the data on the presence of Covid-19 mutations in the country however said that an exercise was still underway to establish the rise of this variant with the disease progression in the country.

    Incidentally, this Indian strain, the World Health Organisation has said, has been detected in at least 17 countries including the UK, US and Singapore.

    ALSO READ | Medical equipment received as foreign aid meant for people, not to be kept in boxes: HC

    Sources said that following a request by the UK government, India has agreed to send samples of the B.1.617 variant there to examine the efficacy of available Covid-19 vaccines against it.  

    Renu Swarup, secretary, department of biotechnology meanwhile said that the initial data has shown that Covid-19 vaccines in India effectively neutralise the variants in circulation in the country, more work is underway to fully establish this.

  • Double mutant strain detected in patients who tested COVID positive at Dibrugarh airport

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The double mutant strain has been detected in some passengers who tested COVID-19 positive at Assam’s Dibrugarh airport, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

    Recent samples of passengers taken at the airport are “positive for B.1.617 strain or the Indian double mutant (L452R and E484Q) strain of SARS-COV-2,” he tweeted.

    The strain spreads “very fast and is extremely dangerous. I appeal to people to be very careful as there is no alternative to caution”, Sarma told reporters after attending an all-party meeting called by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

    “In India, the UK and Californian strains have combined to form the double mutant strain and its birthplace is Maharashtra, from where it is spreading to other states,” he said.

    There are speculations in certain sections that vaccines might not work in positive cases with these strains, but these are to be verified, Sarma said.

    Earlier, the minister had claimed that the UK mutant strain has also been found in Assam.

    Meanwhile, the state government issued another SOP, stating that in districts with over 100 active cases, coaching institutes will function with 50 per cent capacity, while pregnant teaching/non-teaching staff and those with children below five years shall be exempted from attending schools and coaching institutes.

    Assam has reported 2,29,138 positive cases and 1,150 deaths so far.

    This development comes after as many as 385 passengers, who landed at the Silchar airport on Wednesday, created disorder and fled the facility to escape mandatory COVID-19 testing, officials said on Thursday, and asserted criminal action will be initiated against them.

    Cachar District Additional Deputy Commissioner (Health) Sumit Sattawan said a total of 690 passengers arrived at the airport from various parts of the country aboard six aircraft.

    He said they were supposed to undergo swab tests at the airport and the nearby Mahatma Gandhi Model Hospital in Tikal.

    Sattawan said hundreds of passengers created chaos at both places, mainly over payment of Rs 500 for the tests, the government-fixed rate.

    The Assam government has made it mandatory for all air passengers arriving in the state to undergo a free Rapid Antigen Test and an RT-PCR test for Rs 500 even if the report of the RAT comes negative.

    Asserting that the passengers had violated the rules, the officer said, “We have their database and will track them. We will initiate criminal action under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and other relevant provisions.”

    The ADC later filed a complaint with the Cachar Superintendent of Police against the violators, seeking initiation of proceedings for flouting government orders and putting the society at risk during the pandemic.

    “A total of 385 passengers skipped mandatory testing at Silchar Airport,” he said in the complaint, containing the list of the violators with mobile phone numbers received from flight carriers.

    Of the 690 passengers, 189 were tested and six found infected with the virus.

    Many were exempted from testing as they were transit passengers on way to neighbouring states like Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Sattawan said.

    In a statement late on Thursday, Silchar airport director said the incident was not reported inside the airport and “no passenger escaped from security checks or from the designated area at the passenger terminal building”.

    “However, the matter was related to the screening of the arriving passengers by transporting them from outside the airport, through ASTC buses to the Mahatma Gandhi Model Hospital, Tikal (Salganga).

    There, both RAT and RT-PCR tests are being conducted by the district health department,” it added.

    Quoting Sattawan, the Airports Authority of India release said around 300 passengers moved out of the system without being tested, shouting at health department personnel.

    The district health officials and workers were caught off-guard as they didn’t anticipate “so much indiscipline” from flight passengers, AAI said.

    “Air passengers escaped from outside Silchar airport or the testing site rather than the airport,” it added.

    The Assam government had on Wednesday night announced that people coming from outside will have to undergo seven days of compulsory home quarantine, as the state’s COVID-19 tally shot up to 2,29,138 with 1,150 fatalities.

  • India COVID-19 crisis: Another mutant with major immune escape capacity raising its ugly head, say experts

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Even as the double-mutant Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus is wreaking havoc across the country, genome experts have flagged another lineage of the coronavirus, named B.1.618, with major immune escape capacity. This variant is said to be driving the pandemic in West Bengal and spreading very fast.

    Based on the sequences of B.1.618 submitted by Bengal-based National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG ), the experts say it is characterised by a distinct set of genetic variants including E484K, a major immune-escape variant that can escape monoclonal antibodies and panels of convalescent plasma. 

    EXPRESS ILLUSTRATIONWhile initial sequences of the B.1.618 lineage have been found in West Bengal, the members of this lineage is also found in other parts of the world but do not have the full complement of the variants as found in India.

    Genome sequencing shows that proportions of B.1.618 have been growing significantly in recent months in West Bengal, and along with B.1.617, it forms a major lineage of the deadly virus in the state.

    On whether the lineage is more infectious, experts say there are many unknowns for this lineage at this moment, including its capability to cause re-infections as well as vaccine-breakthrough infections, and additional experimental data is required to assess the efficacy of vaccines against this variant.

    The current surge in Covid-19 cases in the country is attributed to the double mutant version of the virus.

    The double mutant (L452R + E484Q) was announced by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on March 25 after it was identified in samples of saliva taken from people in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Punjab.

    The variant has a particularly increased prevalence in Maharashtra, where the strain has been present at a very low frequency since October 2020.

    WATCH:

    Genome study says…

    Proportions of B.1.618 have been growing significantly in recent months in Bengal, and along with B.1.617, it forms a major lineage of the deadly virus in the state

  • Oral drug effective against Covid in hamsters, now in final stages of human trials: Study

    The drug can also decrease damage it causes to lungs, states the study conducted on hamsters.

  • COVID clinical symptoms, CT scans/X-rays should be used to rule out false negatives: Experts

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid a staggering surge in COVID-19 cases, India’s top experts on Monday said RT-PCR tests detect coronavirus in around 80 per cent of the cases, so clinical features and CT scans/chest X-rays should be used to rule out false negatives in symptomatic patients followed by a repeat test after 24 hours.

    Amid SARS COV-2 ‘variants of concern’ circulating, they said RT-PCR tests do not miss mutations as the ones being used in India target more than two genes.

    According to government data till April 15, a total of 1,189 samples have tested positive for ‘variants of concern’ of SARS COV-2 in India which include 1,109 samples with the UK variant, 79 samples with South African variant and one sample with the Brazil variant.

    Based on ICMR data, the current variants are also being picked up by the RT-PCR tests.

    The RT-PCR test has sensitivity of around 80 per cent and therefore 20 per cent of the cases can still be missed out.

    “Also, if the sample is not properly taken or if the test is done too early when the viral load is low, it may come out negative.

    So, if a person is symptomatic, a combination of clinical features, laboratory reports, CT/chest X-ray can be used for presumptive diagnosis of COVID-19 and treatment should be started accordingly.

    The test should also be repeated after 24 hours,” AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria told PTI.

    Dr Samiran Panda, the Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said the mutants — variants from the UK, Brazil and South Africa — are not able to evade the diagnostic RT-PCR testing that is being conducted in India.

    “In India, we have to be able to detect two or more genes of virus so if mutation happens on one area then the RT-PCR test kits will be able to capture it and it is capturing. However, some of the infections will remain undetected irrespective of the mutations happening,” Panda said.

    Moreover, all the mutants have been identified from these tests only, he said.

    Clinical symptoms and CT scan reports should be the guiding factor for treatment rather than relying only on the RT-PCR test which has a sensitivity of around 80 per cent, another senior doctor said.

    Even the rapid antigen test has a sensitivity of only 40 per cent, he said, adding, “So many patients will be missed if we rely only upon these tests.”

  • Mutant COVID-19 viruses converging to become ‘super variant’, can make pandemic situation difficult: Study

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Different and worrying SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, such as the UK and South African ones, appear to be converging through mutations towards a “super variant” that would confer biological advantages to the virus and make fighting the Covid-19 pandemic difficult, a new study has suggested.

    This is first ever study detecting signals of a convergence, which suggests that through mutations, the UK variant is becoming more like the South African variant and vice-versa.

    The scientists from the US, UK, Sweden and South Africa have shown that the emergence and rapid rise in prevalence of three independent SARS-CoV-2 “501Y lineages’’, B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1, in the last three months of 2020 has prompted renewed concerns about the evolutionarily capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to adapt to both rising population immunity, and public health interventions such as vaccines and social distancing. 

    Viruses giving rise to the different 501Y lineages have, presumably under intense natural selection following a shift in host environment, independently acquired multiple unique and convergent mutations. 

    “As a consequence, all have gained epidemiological and immunological properties that will likely complicate the control of Covid-19,” noted their work.

    By examining patterns of mutations the scientists found evidence of a major change in the selective forces acting on immunologically important SARS-CoV-2 genes (such as N and S) that likely coincided with the emergence of 501Y lineages. 

    “Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring how members of these known 501Y lineages, and others still undiscovered, are convergently evolving similar strategies to ensure their persistence in the face of mounting infection and vaccine induced host immune recognition,” they noted. 

    The scientists have hypothesized that other plausible contributors to the fitness advantage of viruses are that they produce more particles at anatomical sites suitable for optimal droplet or aerosol transmission.

    Vaccination crosses two crore mark

    The cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 2.26 crore on Monday. A total of 2,26,85,598 vaccine doses were administered.

  • Covishield worked faster in people already infected with SARS CoV 2, shows study

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The first-ever data on the effectiveness of the Covishield vaccine in India has shown that it works faster in people already infected with Covid-19, but is also highly effective in those without antibodies against the virus after 28 days of the first dose.  

    The study titled ‘Effect Monitoring and Insights from Vaccination program of Healthcare Workforce from a tertiary level hospital in India against SARS-CoV-2’ has been carried out at the Max hospital in Delhi with the support of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. 

    As part of the study, the researchers measured antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 directed against the spike protein in a group of 135 healthcare workers administered Covishield. 

    The Oxford-Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 has been an important part of the global vaccine roll-out against SARS-CoV-2, and a locally manufactured version Covishield by the Serum Institute of India is the most commonly used vaccine in India so far.

    ALSO READ | India made Covaxin 81% effective shows interim analysis of Stage 3 trial

    The researchers found 44 subjects (32.5%) who had already developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at day 0 or before immunization and it was observed that antibody response was significantly higher at each time point, with the maximum increase seen between days 0 and 7. 

    In contrast, the seronegative group, which had 91 individuals, started developing antibody response only after 14 days or later. Significantly, three seronegative individuals did not develop any antibody response even at day 28 of vaccination. 

    The scientists noted that median antibody response at 28 days in seronegative subjects was similar to that of seropositive subjects at baseline and was on a rising trajectory. 

    “Our data suggests that ChAdOx1 (Covishield) is highly immunogenic, particularly so where previous SARS CoV2 antibody-response is established,” said the scientists in their paper.

    ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu government to distribute Covaxin to private hospitals on request

    Given the high background seropositivity in India, this may be useful in determining optimal timing of the second dose during mass immunization within the constraints of vaccine supply and administration, they added. 

    Based on the results, the scientists have argued that the data could be utilized to design an effective vaccine strategy where vaccines could be prioritized based on sero-prevalence studies. 

    “Our data supports safely delaying the second dose in recipient groups with high sero-positivity,” they said. “This could be adopted as a universal strategy, given that the first dose seems to give adequate protection lasting for about three months in other studies, or could be one part of a dual strategy where high-risk or vulnerable populations receive the second dose earlier, while normal-risk subjects have a delayed second dose.” 

  • CCMB scientists find different variant of SARS-CoV-2 in South India

    By PTI
    HYDERABAD: Scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology here have found prominently a different variant of SARS-CoV-2 in southern parts of India, a top official of the institute said on Thursday.

    Rakesh Mishra, director of CCMB, said the different variant (N440K) appears to be milder than the existing one and the institute is stepping up research on it to ascertain its prevalence in the country.

    The findings came amid the concerns of a mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2found in the UK recently.

    “It is not a new variant that we found. It is N440 K. It is a different variant. This is there for some time. This N440K was a very small number in September and October last year. Now it looks like it is getting a much bigger proportion. No symptoms issues with N440K,” Mishra told PTI.

    “Either this (the differentvariant) has become normal or the earlier one became weaker. But certainly symptom wise if it is not equal, it (the differentone) is milder. We dont have enough data as of now. We are accelerating. I think in coming days we will do large-scale sequencing,” he explained.

    He said the variant is seen in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and other southern states and scientists have no sufficient data to prove its existence in other parts of the country.

    Mishra said the CCMB did not see any increased number of cases or symptoms with this variant of the virus.

  • COVID persistence may lead to regional strains with improved fitness: Study

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Following a study of genomes of various variants of Covid-19 virus from over 2 lakh samples, scientists have predicted that the persistence of pandemic may lead to the emergence of newer regional strains with improved fitness.

    The scientists analysed 200,865 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from 155 countries, which had 2.58 million mutations as of late last year as compared to the reference Wuhan strain.

    They found about 39% synonymous mutations, mutations that are usually minor and do not change the amino acids while about 51% were non-synonymous mutations, which are mutations that change the amino acids. 

    Upon comparing the variants predominant in the three new strains, the researchers found four common hotspot mutations, noted scientists attached with the Integrated Cancer Genomics Laboratory, Homi Bhabha National Institute and Institute of Advanced Virology, Kerala.

    Their paper “Evolving Insights from SARS-CoV-2 Genome from 200K COVID-19 Patients” says that N501Y was the base mutation in all the three variants, with the South African and Brazilian strains showing additional E484K mutation in the spike protein.

    Neither of these two mutations however were seen in the Indian samples, and only two out of 3,361 samples showed S477N (characteristic of European mutations) mutation. 

    The scientists however said that it is unknown if the absence of these mutations, which have increased binding affinity to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, could account for the lower transmission in India compared to the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.

    Even a modest increase in infectivity rate of a regional variant or a reduction in vaccine efficacy or increased transmission would require immediate stringent measures to be put in place to contain the spread of the strain.

    In India, following concerns of spread of UK variants of SARS CoV 2, the national task force on Covid had suggested doing genome sequencing of 5% of all Covid cases nationwide, however it is not yet clear whether this exercise has kicked off.

    India carried out far less gene mapping compared to UK and US till last month.

  • 116 people infected with UK variant of COVID-19 in India: Government

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has climbed to 116, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

    “The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116,” the ministry said.

    All these persons have been kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments, the ministry earlier had said.

    Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine.

    Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.

    Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said.

    The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) labs.

    The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by several countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.