CCMB spots more infectious Covid strain in India
Similarity in viral genome positive as vaccine will be effective worldwide
A more infectious strain of
SARS-CoV-2, the Coronavirus that causes Covid
19, is now being increasingly seen in India, scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have said.
Currently, 70 per cent of all Indian and global SARS
CoV2 virus variants fall into this category of the more infectious variety, according to the scientists.
Dr Rakesh K. Mishra, CCMB director, made it clear that despite its more infectious nature, there is no evidence that this muta
● THERE IS no proof that this mutation — A2a clade — is more difficult to deal with clinically.
tion — A2a clade — is more difficult to deal with clinically.
“As expected for a strain which is more infectious, the A2a clade quickly became dominant in India just like everywhere else.”
The similarity in the viral genome globally should be considered positive news, because a vaccine or a drug targeting this mutation will work with the same effectiveness all over the world, Dr Mishra, a co-author of CCMB’s latest study on the virus, said.
He made it clear that no clade of the virus at present has been conclusively shown to be associated with a more severe form of
Covid-19, or cause an increased risk of death.
The increasing prevalence of the more infectious strain comes as CCMB scientists continued with their study in June that found the I/A3i clade of the virus was a distinct
Covid-19 causing variant among Indians.
That study, that resulted from an analysis of more than 2,000 SARS-CoV2 genomes from India available in the public domain, found that the particular clade was recognised by the presence of four specific variations in their genomes. At that time, 41 per cent of all Indian
SARS-CoV-2 genomes belonged to this clade.
The current analysis showed that the proportion of the A3i clade dropped to
18 per cent, which was predicted by the CCMB study as this variation was expected to be bad for the virus. “This is exactly what we see now,” Dr Divya Tej Sowpati, a CCMB scientist who is leading the study, said.