NEW DELHI: Standard defense mechanisms such as masks, sanitation and physical distancing will work to contain the coronavirus strain detected in six people who came from the UK, scientists said Tuesday, ensuring that the mutant strain is not clinically more serious and there is no need to worry.
The Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday that six people who returned to India from the UK recently tested positive for the new mutated variant called VUI-202012/01, raising concerns that India’s fight against the disease will be It has become more complex, like his Covid-19 diary the account was falling.
According to the ministry, the UK variant genome of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in three samples at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience Hospital (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, two at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) , Hyderabad. and one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
Several scientists chimed in to quell concerns, saying there is no evidence yet that the variant is more deadly.
Anurag Agrawal, director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi was one of them.
“Being cautious and following good practice should be sufficient (to address the variant),” Agrawal told PTI, adding that the UK, where the variant was first identified, has not reported any clinical indication that the variant is more serious.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said that preliminary model results released by the UK on December 19 suggest the variant is 70 percent more transmissible than previously circulating variants. However, he also said there is no indication of an increased severity of the observed infection related to the variant with multiple mutations in the spike protein.
The spike protein comes into contact with human cells to enter the body and infect.
Virologist Upasana Ray agreed with the assessment that there is no cause for alarm because there is nothing so far to support concerns that the variant is more deadly. CSIR-IICB Senior Scientist Kolkata went one step further, saying: “The transmission rate has been said to be higher. However, there is no laboratory evidence for that either.”
Ray also noted that a travel verification has already been suggested and said tests have been recommended for anyone entering the country from the UK.
“The most important step required is to implement the basic precautions like wearing masks (which many people have stopped wearing), social distancing, etc. It is also important to monitor the variant to monitor its transmission and pathogenicity,” Ray told PTI.
There should be no worries on the vaccine front, either.
Stating that so far the new variant has not been found to increase the severity of the disease, the government’s chief scientific adviser, K Vijay Raghavan, told a news conference: “There is no evidence that current vaccines do not protect against variants of Covid 19 reported from the UK or South Africa “.
“Most vaccines target the peak protein in which there are changes in variants, but vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies,” he said.
Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Center for Cellular and Microbiology in Hyderabad, added that it is not surprising to find the new virus variant in some of the samples tested in India.
According to him, large-scale testing is required and people shouldn’t worry too much about the new strain.
“(The new strain of Covid-19) is recent; otherwise, it is the same virus and it is not a big problem. The same symptoms, mortality, everything is the same, we just have to take precautions,” Mishra said to PTI.
Although the new variant is more transmissible, it has not been shown to cause a more serious infection compared to other mutants, agreed Divya Tej Sowpati, a CSIR-CCMB scientist.
“Note that although more transmissible, this strain does not appear to be clinically more serious. Also, the same defenses work to contain the UK strain as well: masks, disinfection and social distancing,” Sowpati tweeted on Tuesday.
Immunologist Satyajit Rath said the variant is likely to be of concern in terms of policy responses to Covid-19, but not in terms of individual risk of serious disease.
“However, the basis for this concern remains somewhat circumstantial at this point, as it is based on the correlation between the increasing prominence of this variant with the increasing number of cases in the south of England over the past few weeks.
“More direct evidence is still awaited, if there is any,” said Rath of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in New Delhi.
He also expressed doubts whether the new variant will have any impact on the accuracy of the standard RT PCR diagnostic tests for Covid-19 that are being carried out in India.
“It is true that some tests are based on detecting regions that are a little different in this variant, but those differences are not large enough, I think, for the tests to be substantially affected,” he explained.
Agrawal agreed with Rath, saying that “radical changes were not needed” in the RT-PCR diagnosis due to the new variant.
A total of 16,432 new infections were reported in a 24-hour span, the lowest in just over six months, while the death toll rose to 1,48,153 with 252 new deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health. Tuesday.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease rose to 98.07,569, bringing the national recovery rate to 95.92%, while the Covid-19 fatality rate is 1.45%.
The Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday that six people who returned to India from the UK recently tested positive for the new mutated variant called VUI-202012/01, raising concerns that India’s fight against the disease will be It has become more complex, like his Covid-19 diary the account was falling.
According to the ministry, the UK variant genome of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in three samples at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience Hospital (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, two at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) , Hyderabad. and one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
Several scientists chimed in to quell concerns, saying there is no evidence yet that the variant is more deadly.
Anurag Agrawal, director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi was one of them.
“Being cautious and following good practice should be sufficient (to address the variant),” Agrawal told PTI, adding that the UK, where the variant was first identified, has not reported any clinical indication that the variant is more serious.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said that preliminary model results released by the UK on December 19 suggest the variant is 70 percent more transmissible than previously circulating variants. However, he also said there is no indication of an increased severity of the observed infection related to the variant with multiple mutations in the spike protein.
The spike protein comes into contact with human cells to enter the body and infect.
Virologist Upasana Ray agreed with the assessment that there is no cause for alarm because there is nothing so far to support concerns that the variant is more deadly. CSIR-IICB Senior Scientist Kolkata went one step further, saying: “The transmission rate has been said to be higher. However, there is no laboratory evidence for that either.”
Ray also noted that a travel verification has already been suggested and said tests have been recommended for anyone entering the country from the UK.
“The most important step required is to implement the basic precautions like wearing masks (which many people have stopped wearing), social distancing, etc. It is also important to monitor the variant to monitor its transmission and pathogenicity,” Ray told PTI.
There should be no worries on the vaccine front, either.
Stating that so far the new variant has not been found to increase the severity of the disease, the government’s chief scientific adviser, K Vijay Raghavan, told a news conference: “There is no evidence that current vaccines do not protect against variants of Covid 19 reported from the UK or South Africa “.
“Most vaccines target the peak protein in which there are changes in variants, but vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies,” he said.
Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Center for Cellular and Microbiology in Hyderabad, added that it is not surprising to find the new virus variant in some of the samples tested in India.
According to him, large-scale testing is required and people shouldn’t worry too much about the new strain.
“(The new strain of Covid-19) is recent; otherwise, it is the same virus and it is not a big problem. The same symptoms, mortality, everything is the same, we just have to take precautions,” Mishra said to PTI.
Although the new variant is more transmissible, it has not been shown to cause a more serious infection compared to other mutants, agreed Divya Tej Sowpati, a CSIR-CCMB scientist.
“Note that although more transmissible, this strain does not appear to be clinically more serious. Also, the same defenses work to contain the UK strain as well: masks, disinfection and social distancing,” Sowpati tweeted on Tuesday.
Immunologist Satyajit Rath said the variant is likely to be of concern in terms of policy responses to Covid-19, but not in terms of individual risk of serious disease.
“However, the basis for this concern remains somewhat circumstantial at this point, as it is based on the correlation between the increasing prominence of this variant with the increasing number of cases in the south of England over the past few weeks.
“More direct evidence is still awaited, if there is any,” said Rath of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in New Delhi.
He also expressed doubts whether the new variant will have any impact on the accuracy of the standard RT PCR diagnostic tests for Covid-19 that are being carried out in India.
“It is true that some tests are based on detecting regions that are a little different in this variant, but those differences are not large enough, I think, for the tests to be substantially affected,” he explained.
Agrawal agreed with Rath, saying that “radical changes were not needed” in the RT-PCR diagnosis due to the new variant.
A total of 16,432 new infections were reported in a 24-hour span, the lowest in just over six months, while the death toll rose to 1,48,153 with 252 new deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health. Tuesday.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease rose to 98.07,569, bringing the national recovery rate to 95.92%, while the Covid-19 fatality rate is 1.45%.
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