{"id":237329,"date":"2021-04-28T10:50:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/indian-covid-variant-found-in-at-least-17-countries-who\/"},"modified":"2021-04-28T10:50:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:50:01","slug":"indian-covid-variant-found-in-at-least-17-countries-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indian-covid-variant-found-in-at-least-17-countries-who\/","title":{"rendered":"#Indian Covid variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Indian Covid variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"SARS-CoV-2
\n Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (red), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
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The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a variant of COVID-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries.\n <\/p>\n

The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded to the GISAID open-access database “from at least 17 countries”. <\/p>\n

“Most sequences were uploaded from India, the United Kingdom, U.S. and Singapore,” the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The WHO recently listed B.1.617\u2014which counts several sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics\u2014as a “variant of interest”.<\/p>\n

But so far it has stopped short of declaring it a “variant of concern”.<\/p>\n

That label would indicate that it is more dangerous that the original version of the virus by for instance being more transmissible, deadly or able to dodge vaccine protections.<\/p>\n

India is facing surging new cases and deaths in the pandemic, and fears are rising that the variant could be contributing to the unfolding catastrophe.<\/p>\n

The explosion in infections in India\u2014350,000 new cases were recorded there on Tuesday alone\u2014has driven a surge in global cases to 147.7 million.<\/p>\n

The virus has now killed more than 3.1 million people worldwide.<\/p>\n

The WHO acknowledged that its preliminary modelling based on sequences submitted to GISAID indicates “that B.1.617 has a higher growth rate than other circulating variants in India, suggesting potential increased transmissibility”.<\/p>\n

It stressed that other variants circulating at the same time were also showing increased transmissibility, and that the combination “may be playing a role in the current resurgence in this country.”<\/p>\n

“Indeed, studies have highlighted that the spread of the second wave has been much faster than the first,” the WHO said.<\/p>\n

It highlighted though that “other drivers” could be contributing to the surge, including lax adherence to public health measures as well as mass gatherings.<\/p>\n

“Further investigation is needed to understand the relative contribution of these factors,” it said.<\/p>\n

The UN agency also stressed that “further robust studies” into the characteristics of B.1.617 and other variants, including impacts on transmissibility, severity and the risk of reinfection, were “urgently needed”.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Indian Covid variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO (2021, April 28)
\n retrieved 28 April 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-04-indian-covid-variant-countries.html<\/p>\n

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