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Emergence of Double mutant of Covid-19 in India

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Science & Technology
  • Published
    26th Mar, 2021

A new variant of coronavirus is detected from the samples collected in around 18 states in India.

Context

A new variant of coronavirus is detected from the samples collected in around 18 states in India.

About the Double Mutant Study

  • The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), a group of 10 national laboratories under the Health ministry, India carried out genomic sequencing on the recently collected samples.
  • The study is being conducted in a change of infectiousness of the mutant virus.
  • E484Q and L452R mutations were observed in the Maharashtra mutant.
  • Impact of Mutation: Most of the mutations are insignificant and do not cause any change in their capacity to transmit and in causing serious infection.
  • But some mutations such as the UK or South Africa variant lineages can make the virus more infectious.
  • Double mutant: The double mutation in the virus's spike protein may increase the risk and help the virus to escape the immune system.
  • The spike protein is the part of the virus that it uses to penetrate human cells.

Associated Risk

  • The double mutations confer immune escape from the neutralizing antibodies.
  • It can also cause increased infectivity.
  • It can re-infectthe already recovered person of Covid-19 infection with mild symptoms.
  • It can penetrate the herd immunity.
  • This can put the most vulnerable population at risk of severe disease.

Herd Immunity

Herd immunity is associated with when a large portion of a community get immunized to disease by vaccination or through the mass spread of the disease

Verifying, please be patient.

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