MUMBAI: Nearly 50% of samples that have been positive for Covid-19 in the state and have been sent from some of the districts for genome sequencing have the Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 recently identified and highly infectious called B.1.617.
Most of these samples are from Vidarbha and no sample submitted from the city has so far shown variant B.1.617, according to scientists involved in INSACOG, a grouping of 10 national laboratories that perform complete genomic sequencing of samples.
The Union Ministry of Health has so far not given specific details on the whole genome sequencing project. A communication on Friday said that as of Thursday, 13,614 whole genome sequencing samples had been processed at the 10 INSACOG laboratories. “Of these, 1,189 samples have tested positive for the worrying variants of SARS COV-2 in India. This includes 1,109 samples with UK variants; 79 samples with the South African variant and one sample with the Brazilian variant, “the ministry said in a statement.
Some information about the results of the samples sent by the state was handed over to the state Minister of Health, Rajesh Tope, in a virtual meeting with the Union Minister of Health, Dr Harsh Vardhan, on Saturday.
Tope said of the 1,100 samples sent so far, 500 had been examined.
The state government is looking for a detailed report on the Indian variant
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday that after learning that 50% of the state’s positive Covid-19 samples have the highly infectious Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 called B .1,617, had requested a detailed report from the center. He said he had been told he would only be available at the end of the investigation.
The concern in the state – and in the rest of the world, too, because the Indian variant has been isolated in multiple samples in the United Kingdom and the United States – is the high transmissibility of the variant.
“Because the new variant is said to be highly infectious, we asked the Center for a report and, if any, revised guidelines,” Tope said. “The Center said a detailed report would only be available at the end of the investigation.”
The state director of health services, Dr. Archana Patil, said she knew where the samples had been collected. “Changes are seen in some samples, but there is no comment on whether they account for this wave,” Patil said.
B.1.617 was first identified by scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi as part of the INSACOG project. They observed two mutations, L452R and E484K, which are known to have the ability to escape antibodies.
Articles written by experts around the world have pointed out that the Indian variant could be “at least in part” the one driving the current wave.
IGIB director Anurag Agrawal said nearly 15,000 positive samples of Covid-19 have been studied since December. “Our team of scientists identified the variant that has since been christened B.1.617. In general, it is present in a small percentage of samples, but its presence has been growing in recent weeks,” he said. say Dr. Agrawal.
Scientists from other countries had more details. “The new strain has been detected in at least five states in India, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, which have contributed to the increase in cases in the country, in addition to B.1.1.7 (UK), B .1,351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil) variants that also circulate (in) India, ”William A. Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a Forbes article.
He wrote that, although the extent of the strain was unknown, of the 2,844 sequences submitted to the GISAID database from India since March 1, 162 sequences (around 6 %) had been classified as B.1.617. “That percentage is likely to grow,” he said.
Most of these samples are from Vidarbha and no sample submitted from the city has so far shown variant B.1.617, according to scientists involved in INSACOG, a grouping of 10 national laboratories that perform complete genomic sequencing of samples.
The Union Ministry of Health has so far not given specific details on the whole genome sequencing project. A communication on Friday said that as of Thursday, 13,614 whole genome sequencing samples had been processed at the 10 INSACOG laboratories. “Of these, 1,189 samples have tested positive for the worrying variants of SARS COV-2 in India. This includes 1,109 samples with UK variants; 79 samples with the South African variant and one sample with the Brazilian variant, “the ministry said in a statement.
Some information about the results of the samples sent by the state was handed over to the state Minister of Health, Rajesh Tope, in a virtual meeting with the Union Minister of Health, Dr Harsh Vardhan, on Saturday.
Tope said of the 1,100 samples sent so far, 500 had been examined.
The state government is looking for a detailed report on the Indian variant
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday that after learning that 50% of the state’s positive Covid-19 samples have the highly infectious Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 called B .1,617, had requested a detailed report from the center. He said he had been told he would only be available at the end of the investigation.
The concern in the state – and in the rest of the world, too, because the Indian variant has been isolated in multiple samples in the United Kingdom and the United States – is the high transmissibility of the variant.
“Because the new variant is said to be highly infectious, we asked the Center for a report and, if any, revised guidelines,” Tope said. “The Center said a detailed report would only be available at the end of the investigation.”
The state director of health services, Dr. Archana Patil, said she knew where the samples had been collected. “Changes are seen in some samples, but there is no comment on whether they account for this wave,” Patil said.
B.1.617 was first identified by scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi as part of the INSACOG project. They observed two mutations, L452R and E484K, which are known to have the ability to escape antibodies.
Articles written by experts around the world have pointed out that the Indian variant could be “at least in part” the one driving the current wave.
IGIB director Anurag Agrawal said nearly 15,000 positive samples of Covid-19 have been studied since December. “Our team of scientists identified the variant that has since been christened B.1.617. In general, it is present in a small percentage of samples, but its presence has been growing in recent weeks,” he said. say Dr. Agrawal.
Scientists from other countries had more details. “The new strain has been detected in at least five states in India, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, which have contributed to the increase in cases in the country, in addition to B.1.1.7 (UK), B .1,351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil) variants that also circulate (in) India, ”William A. Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a Forbes article.
He wrote that, although the extent of the strain was unknown, of the 2,844 sequences submitted to the GISAID database from India since March 1, 162 sequences (around 6 %) had been classified as B.1.617. “That percentage is likely to grow,” he said.