Dhanbad: Double mutant Covid variant found in 30 patients
DHANBAD: After Ranchi, Palamu and Hazaribagh, the dangerous double mutant variant of SARS–CoV2 has now entered Dhanbad, a state health department official said on Thursday.
Bhubaneswar Regional Jinam Siwuesing Laboratories on Wednesday sent a lab report to the microbiology department of Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH) in Dhanbad and informed about the finding of B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 in some samples of positive patients sent by the institution.
A senior official of the state health department said that RT-PCR test reports of samples of different districts were sent to Bhubaneswar Regional Jinam Siwuesing Laboratories, in which the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 was earlier found in samples of Ranchi, Palamu, Hazaribagh and other districts of the state. Now Dhanbad has also joined them.
SNMMCH principal Dr Shailendra Kumar admitted to having received the report of Bhubaneswar Regional Jinam Siwuesing laboratories about
the variant of Coronavirus in samples of patients. “We would discuss how to combat the situation soon,” said principal Dr Kumar.
SNMMCH microbiology head of the department Dr Sujit Kumar Tiwari said that RT-PCR test reports are being sent to the lab for identifying what type of strain is being detected in positive patients. Migrants from Maharashtra and other parts of the country are also under treatment at SNMMCH and their RT-PCR samples test reports are also being sent to the Bhubaneswar Lab. “So we can’t claim that the new variant is found in Dhanbad patients. It might have entered the district through migrant patients,” he said.
Dr Tiwari said that among different strains, the B.1.617 variant is the most dangerous.
As per the Bhubaneswar lab report, a total of 50 samples were sent from SNMMCH. Of them, B.1.617 SARS-CoV2 variant was found in 30 samples, followed by B.1.617-1 in nine and B.1.222 in six.