India finds new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the middle of the second wave | The world

Announced the existence of India “Double mutation variantIn SARS-CoV-2, in addition to other imported strains, in studies conducted in several states of the country, there has been a steady increase among second wave tides, with 47,262 new cases and 275 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The Indian Federation of SARS-CoV-2 Genetics (INSACOG), a team of ten national laboratories set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has confirmed that this new mutation has been detected after a series of tests in the western state of Maharashtra. The virus gene.

“Analysis of the samples from Maharashtra revealed that there was an increase in the fraction of the sample with the E484Q and L452R mutations compared to December 2020 “,” he said. Explains the report, which adds “These mutations are found in approximately 15% to 20% of samples and are not compatible with the previously listed VOC”.

In the southern state of Kerala, 2,032 models of the N440K variant have been deployed, previously found in 16 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

This variant of SARS-CoV-2 is present in 33% of the samples analyzed in Andhra Pradesh and in 53 of 104 trials in Telangana located in South India.

Of the 10,787 trials analyzed by INACOG, 736 cases of British mutation were found in 34 samples of the South African variant and the Brazilian type.

However, the report insists “Although many worrying strains and a new double mutant variant are found in India, they have not been found in sufficient numbers to establish or link the rapid increase in cases in some states.”.

In this sense, INSACOG can further analyze the situation following epidemiological and genetic sequencing studies and thereby determine a response.

Officials warned that these new variants require epidemiological and public health responses similar to those found in other countries.Adherence to close contacts, immediate isolation of positives, as well as adherence to the national protocol established by each region“From an Asian country.

The new variation announcement comes in the midst of a second wave of epidemics in India, where 47,262 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, with less than 10,000 daily positive detections, contrary to the moment of confidence experienced last month.

With these new cases, the total number of infections in India has crossed 11.7 million, making it the third most positive country after the United States and Brazil.

This second wave is moving towards the numbers recorded during the epidemic last September, when there were nearly 10,0000 new positives a day, which is why the country was urged to expedite the vaccination process, exceeding the level of 50 million administered this Wednesday.