"Indian strain" of coronavirus found in 17 countries: WHO

The Indian strain of the coronavirus also known as B1617 or a double mutant has been found in at least 17 countries the WHO has said as the world grapples to contain the surge in the COVID19 cases with 57 million infections detected last week surpassing previous peaksThe B1617 variant of SARSCoV2 or the Indian strain feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been designated as the Variants of Interest VOI by the World Health Organisation WHO the UN health agency said in its weekly epidemiological update on TuesdayAs of 27 April over 1200 sequences have been uploaded to GISAID and assigned to lineage B1617 collectively from at least 17 countries it said adding that most sequences were uploaded from India the United Kingdom USA and SingaporeGISAID is a global science initiative and primary source established in 2008 that provides openaccess to genomic data of influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the COVID19 pandemicEmerging SARSCoV2 variants within Pango lineage B1617 were recently reported as a VOI from India and have recently been designated as VOIs by WHO it saidThe WHO said that studies have highlighted that the spread of the second wave has been much faster than the first in IndiaPreliminary modelling by WHO based on sequences submitted to GISAID suggest that B1617 has a higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India suggesting potential increased transmissibility with other cocirculating variants also demonstrating increased transmissibility the report by the global health body saidOther drivers may include challenges around the implementation and adherence to public health and social measures PHSM and social gatherings including mass gatherings during cultural and religious celebrations and elections Further investigation is needed to understand the relative contribution of these factors it saidIn many cities in Maharashtra the worsthit state in India the B1617 variant was found in more than 50 per cent of samples on which genome sequencing was conducted Sujeet Singh the Director of the National Centre for Disease Control had said in a webinar on genome sequencing last weekThe B1617 variant comprises several sublineages including B16171 B16172 and B16173 which slightly differ by their characteristic mutations the WHO report saidBoth B16171 and B16172 were first identified in India in December 2020 and have been detected at increasing prevalence concurrent to the major upsurge observed in the countryB16173 was first detected in India in October 2020 but relatively fewer viruses matching this sublineage have been reported to date the report saidThe B1617 variant has three new spike protein mutations Two mutations E484Q and L452R are in the area important for antibodybased neutralisationThe third mutation P681R allows the virus to enter cells a little better These are defining characteristics of the variantCovishield 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 Anurag Agrawal the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology IGIB said citing preliminary results of a studyThe WHO said that globally new COVID19 cases increased for the ninth consecutive week with nearly 57 million new cases reported in the last week surpassing previous peaks and India accounts for 38 per cent of the global cases reported during the periodThe number of new deaths increased for the sixth consecutive week with over 87000 new deaths reportedFor the third consecutive week the SouthEast Asia region reported the highest relative increases in both case and death incidencesWhile a number of countries in the region are reporting upward trends India accounts for the vast majority of cases from this regional trend and 38 per cent of global cases reported in the past week it saidWith 52 per cent increase India has reported the highest number of new cases 2172063 followed by the US 406001 new cases 15 per cent decrease Brazil 404623 new cases 12 per cent decrease Turkey 378771 new cases 9 per cent decrease and France 211674 new cases 9 per cent decreaseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever