B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV-2 drove surge in the COVID-19 cases in last 2 months
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According to INSACOG, the B.1.1.7 lineage of the virus, which was first recognized in the United Kingdom, is declining in proportion throughout India in the last one and half month
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The surge of COVID-19 cases in the nation in the last two months reveals a correlation with the rise in B.1.617 variant of the SARS-CoV-2, in accordance with INSACOG, a grouping of 10 nationwide laboratories.
April and May witnessed a lethal second wave of coronavirus cases that swept via the nation stretching the healthcare infrastructure to its limits.
According to INSACOG, the B.1.1.7 lineage of the virus, which was first recognized in the United Kingdom is declining in proportion throughout India in the last one and half month. The B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus has been named ‘Alpha’.
The B.1.617 lineage of SARS CoV-2 was first reported from Maharashtra however it’s now seen in different states resembling West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana.
“The current surge in cases seen over the last two months in some states shows a correlation with the rise in the B.1.617 lineage of SARS CoV-2,” the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) mentioned.
The B.1.617 lineage has additional advanced into three sublineages – B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3. Early information reveals B.1.617.2, dubbed as Delta by WHO, has greater transmission benefits over the different two sub-lineages.
B.1.617, initially termed as double mutant, has three new spike protein mutations. Two mutations — E484Q and L452R — are in the space vital for antibody-based neutralisation. The third mutation — P681R in B.1.617 — together with the reversion of E484Q permits its sub-lineage to be extra infectious.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed it as ‘Variant of Concern’.
B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.3 sub-lineages have two receptor binding area mutations — L452R and E484Q. The former has seven spike mutation whereas the latter has seven to eight.
In the case of B.1.617.3, it has 9 to 10 spike mutations and two receptor binding area mutations — L452R and T478K.
In the case of all the three sub-lineage, it has the potential to diminished antibody efficacy and potential diminished neutralisation by vaccine sera, which, nonetheless, stays to be established.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) is a grouping of 10 National Laboratories that was established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 25 last yr.
It has been finishing up genomic sequencing and evaluation of COVID-19 viruses and correlating epidemiological traits with genomic variants.
Genomic variants of numerous viruses are a pure phenomenon and are discovered in nearly all nations.
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