Wednesday, 12 May 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
In just six months, the double mutant Covid variant — identified as B.1.617 — which was first detected in India last December, has spread its tentacles in at least 17 countries. including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Philippines, Argentina, Canada, etc.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a “variant of global concern”. Several countries have put travel restrictions for passengers coming from India as a result of the surge in cases here due this mutant virus.
The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India on December 1, 2020. It contains mutations from two separate virus variants — E484Q and L452R. The variant is said to be lethal and infectious with scientists holding it partly responsible for the second and massive resurgence of coronavirus India which has seen many deaths in the second wave of Covid-19.
The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus consists of at least 3 sub-lineages – B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3. The B.1.617.2 lineage is now growing in prevalence across the country.
Earlier in March, Union Health Ministry had said a new “double mutant variant” of the coronavirus had been detected in addition to many other strains or variants of concern (VOCs) found in 18 States in the country.
The UN health agency also said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 seemed to be transmitting more easily than the original version of the virus, and might possibly have some increased resistance to vaccine protections.
This can be reflected in the sharp surge in the cases and deaths in India which is reporting nearly 3 to 4 lakh cases daily.
India accounts for “38 per cent of global cases reported in the past week,” as per the global data.
Up till April 27, B.1.617 variant had been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded on the open-access database GISAID (the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data) “from at least 17 countries”, the global health agency said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic. Most sequences were uploaded from India, the UK, the US and Singapore, it said.
Since then, more than 350 sequences of this lineage have been detected with prevalence increasing to 75 per cent at the end of April. The UK has already placed India on the red list, which prevents non-citizens or non-permanent residents from travelling to the country.
Globally, new Covid-19 cases increased for the ninth consecutive week, with nearly 5.7 million new cases reported in the last week — surpassing previous peaks, the WHO update said. The B1617 variant has been deemed a ‘variant of interest’ instead of a ‘variant of concern’ by the WHO.
However, the WHO has classified the British, South African and Brazilian variants of Covid-19 as “variants of concern.”
“Preliminary 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 co-circulating variants also demonstrating increased transmissibility,” the WHO update said.
“Other drivers may include challenges around the implementation and adherence to public health and social measures and social gatherings (including mass gatherings during cultural and religious celebrations, and elections),” it added.
Earlier, the Indian Covid-19 variant was a “variant of interest” (VOI). The elevation from VOI to “variant of concern” (VOC) is done when a SARS-CoV-2 mutant shows evidence of fulfilling at least one of the criteria such as easier transmission/ increased severity of illness/reduced neutralization by antibodies/ reduced efficacy of drugs and treatment and reduced efficacy of vaccines or vaccine escape ability, as per the WHO.
Last week, the Public Health England named B.1.617.2 a variant of concern as evidence showed that the virus had increased transmissibility.
