As India recorded about three lakh cases and over 2,000 deaths in the last 24 hours due to the COVID-19 infections, a new mutation variant in the COVID-19 virus has been detected in parts of the country, becoming the cause of fresh concerns, NDTV
The triple mutation follows the double mutation which means three different COVID strains have combined to form a novel variant. States of Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal are believed to have cases driven by this new COVID mutant, the report mentioned.
The new spikes in COVID-19 cases across the globe are driven by new variants according to some scientists.
"This is a more transmissible variant. It is making lots of people sick very quickly," reported NDTV quoting Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University. Professor Pai also stressed on the need to “keep tweaking the vaccine” and the “sequencing on war footing”. He also added that the delay in detecting the double mutation may have contributed to the current virus spurt.
The recent mutant poses a massive challenge for India, where genome sequencing is being done for less than one percent of all cases currently, the NDTV report mentioned.
The science behind mutations is that the more a virus spreads the more it replicates and the more it mutates.
More studies are required to establish how infectious or deadly the triple mutation can prove to be, for now, only 10 labs across India are involved in virus genome studies, the report added. The double mutant has resulted in increased transmission rate and is seen to impact children too with more severe pathogenicity, according to scientists.
Currently, the triple mutation has been classified in India as a "variant of interest" rather than a "variant of concern", according to the report.
Will existing vaccines be effective against the new mutant?
Two of the three variants in the triple mutation are more resistant to antibodies and not much is known yet on the effectiveness of vaccines. Scientists do believe the new variant contains the ability to escape the body's naturally acquired immunity to COVID-19, according to the report.
