426 CMAAO CORONA FACTSand MYTH 19th April: Over 77 cases of Indian B.1.617 variant in UK
Dr K K Aggarwal
426 CMAAO CORONA FACTS and MYTH 19th April: Over 77 cases of Indian B.1.617 variant in UK
Dr K Aggarwal President CMAAO, HCFI,
With input from Dr Monica Vasudev
1567: UK finds more than 77 cases of B.1.617 variant first found in India
The B.1.617 strain's mutations are feared to make the variant spread faster and partially evade immunity.
The variant is believed to be largely responsible for India’s current second Covid-19 wave, with infection rates and hospitalisations on the rise once again.
Health authorities in Britain have Variant Under Investigation (VUI).
E484Q, L452R, and P681R
The B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV-2 carries two spike mutations, E484Q and L452R. Both are separately found in many other coronavirus variants, but they have been reported together for the first time in India. The E484Q mutation is similar to E484K, a mutation found in the United Kingdom (lineage B.1.1.7) and South Africa (B.1.351) variants of the coronavirus.
1. The E484Q mutation is similar to E484K, a mutation found in the United Kingdom (lineage B.1.1.7) and South Africa (B.1.351) variants of the coronavirus.
2. The L452R mutation has been found in fast spreading variants in California (B.1.427 and B.1.429). It can increase the binding power of spike proteins with ACE2 receptors on human cells, making it more transmissible. L452R can also potentially enhance viral replication.
3. Together, E484Q and L452R are more infectious, and can evade antibodies.
The variant spreads faster, is more infectious, can infect entire families, but is less virulent and doesn’t cause dramatically more hospitalisations.
Dr Sujeet Singh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC): the central government had reported in March that 15-20 per cent samples in Maharashtra had this variant; on the basis of the latest sequencing data we know that this number is now over 60 per cent.
UK variant detected in 70% samples sent by PGIMER: Meanwhile, the UK variant of Covid-19 was found in 70% of 60 samples sent to the National Centre for Diseases Control, PGIMER. 70% of the samples had UK variant of Covid-19 and 20% of the samples had 681 H mutant.