News Analysis India

Tag: SARS CoV2

  • B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 has sub-lineages; B.617.2 more infectious: Expert on COVID mutations in India

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The double mutant B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 is further mutating and one of its sub-lineages, the B.1.617.2, reported in India, is more infectious than its parent and fast increasing its footprint, Rakesh Mishra, former Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, said on Wednesday.

    He also said there is nothing called the “Singapore variant”, a term that has led to a war of words between the Centre and the AAP government after Singapore objected to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet that a “new” coronavirus strain in the city-state is very dangerous for children.

    Singapore’s health ministry on Tuesday night said the strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first detected in India.

    Amid criticism over Kejriwal’s Singapore COVID-19 variant remark, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday claimed there was a “different strain” of coronavirus spreading in that country.

    However, Mishra said B.1.617.2 has already been reported in India and is in the majority of the new cases in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

    Mishra is part of the INSACOG, a consortium of 10 institutes of the Centre, that is involved in the genome sequencing of coronavirus.

    Explaining about the sub-lineage, Mishra told PTI, “B.1.617 was the mutant which was increasing in some part of the country like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and now gradually it has led to three sub-lineages (B.1) 617.1, 617.2 and 617.3.”

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    “Among these three, B.1.617.2 is more infectious than B.1.617. That does not indicate a greater worry except the numbers are more and symptomatically. Otherwise, we have not seen any other difference. So this is now replacing others.” 

    He said the same thing is being observed in the UK where B.1.617 was found and the sub-lineage has started to take over.

    “This is the same thing we are seeing in Singapore. Most of the cases in Singapore are B.1.617 and a majority is B.1.617.2B.1.617. 2 sub-lineage is majority in the new cases in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh,” Mishra said.

    “Gradually it is increasing its footprint and it will be a major one replacing other variants,” he added.

    Another virologist, who did not want to be quoted, said the sub-lineage was first detected in India in December.

    Sujeet Singh, the Director of the National Centre for Disease Control, said in a webinar in April that in Maharashtra, the B.1.617 variant was found in over 50 per cent of samples in many cities while the UK variant was found in 28 per cent of samples in the second week of March.

    B.1.617, termed as a double mutant, has three new spike protein mutations.

    Two mutations E484Q and L452R are in the area important for antibody-based neutralisation.

    The third mutation P681R in B.1.617 along with the reversion of E484Q allows its sub-lineage to be more infectious.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed it as ‘Variant of Concern’.

    According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the US, B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.3 sub-lineages have two receptor binding domain mutations — L452R and E484Q.

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    The former has seven spike mutation while the latter has 7-8.

    In case of B.1.617.3, it has 9-10 spike mutations and two receptor binding domain mutations — L452R and T478K.

    In case of all the three sub-lineage, it has the potential to reduced antibody efficacy and potentially reduced neutralisation by vaccine sera, which, however, remains to be established.

    On Tuesday, Kejriwal had tweeted, “The new form of coronavirus in Singapore is said to be very dangerous for children. It could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave. My appeal to the Central government: 1. Cancel all air services with Singapore with immediate effect 2. Work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis.”

    Responding to Kejriwal’s tweet, Singapore’s health ministry on Tuesday night said: “There is no Singapore variant. The strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases in recent weeks is the B. 1.617.2 variant, which originated in India.Phylogenetic testing has shown this B.1.617.2 variant to be associated with several clusters in Singapore,” it said in a statement.

  • Covishield, Covaxin effective against ‘Indian strain’ of coronavirus, study suggests

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Covishield and Covaxin — the two coronavirus vaccines currently in use in India — have efficacy against the ‘Indian strain’ and show “milder” illness in case of infection post vaccination, a senior scientist said on Tuesday citing preliminary results of a study.

    Anurag Agrawal, the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), said the study on effectiveness of the available vaccines on the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 suggests that post vaccination, the infections are milder.

    The B.1.617 variant is also being called a ‘double mutant’ or the ‘Indian strain’.

    “Initial positive neutralisation studies of B.1. 617, with both post-Covaxin or Covishield sera, are correlatable with milder disease during post-vaccination breakthrough infections. This is a positive while we get quantitative data for better understanding of infection protection,” Agrawal tweeted.

    IGIB is an institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

    Another study by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad under the CSIR suggests that early results using in-vitro neutralisation assay show that both convalescent (prior infection) sera and Covishield-vaccinated sera offer protection against the B.1.617 variant.

    “Very preliminary but encouraging result: #Covishield protects against #B1617. Early results using in vitro neutralization assay show that both convalescent (prior infection) sera and Covishield vaccinated sera offer protection against the B.1.617 variant, aka #DoubleMutant,” CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra tweeted last week.

    The B.1.617 variant has three new spike protein mutations.

    Two mutations — E484Q and L452R — are in the area important for antibody-based neutralisation.

    The third mutation — P681R — allows the virus to enter cells a little better.

    These are defining characteristics of the variant.

    The B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 has been found prevalent largely in Maharashtra and Delhi that have been severely hit by a devastating second wave of the pandemic.

  • New variants of Covid-19 virus not behind the fresh surge in cases: Government

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday clarified that no new variants of the Covid-19 virus are responsible for the upsurge in active cases in some states, referring to the data from genome sequencing of virus samples so far. 

    At least five states in India have reported a gradual rise in active Covid cases over the past several days. The active coronavirus cases in the country crawled up to over 1.5 lakh after touching a low of 1.3 lakh cases earlier this month — the lowest since June. 

    VK Paul, Member, Health, Niti Aayog, who also heads the national Covid-19 task force, said in a press briefing that while two variants of SARS CoV 2 — N440K and E484K — have been detected in Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana, there is no epidemiological evidence to suggest that these mutants are causing the faster spread of the disease.

    “Based on information available to us, yes these variants are there but there’s no reason today for us to believe, on the basis of scientific information, that these are responsible for the upsurge of the outbreak that you see in some districts of Maharashtra and Kerala,” said Paul. 

    He also said that so far nearly 200 cases of the UK variant, six cases of the South African variant and one case of the Brazilian variant of SARS CoV 2 have been found in India in the 3,500-genome sequencing tests carried out since December.

    ALSO READ | Over 7,000 coronavirus mutations in India, many have serious risks: Scientist

    These three variants, whose presence have been detected in international travellers but not in the community so far, are of particular concern as they are found to be more transmissible and capable of causing severe disease in a higher number of infected people. 

    The data generated by the consortium, INSACOG, led by the National Centre for Disease Control is being epidemiologically analysed, interpreted and shared with the states or districts for investigation, contact tracing and planning response strategies. 

    The rise in active cases, after a long and swift decline over several weeks, meanwhile has spurred fresh worries for the Centre’s disease response plan.

    As per the details shared, there are two states that have 75% active cases — Kerala and Maharashtra. Kerala has 38% of the total active cases of the country while Maharashtra has 37% of the total active cases. The other states showing an upward trend in daily Covid-19 cases include Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

    Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted in the briefing that nearly 62% of the healthcare workers, scheduled for the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination, have taken the jabs while 41 % of the targeted frontline workers have received the shots.