India¡¯s 'Double Mutant' B.1.617 Coronavirus: Everything You Should Know

The daily Covid-19 cases in India breached the 1 lakh mark on April 5th for the first time and has since skyrocketed to a record 1,68,912 fresh cases to become the second worst infected country by coronavirus globally.

Representative image

And India has its own double mutant coronavirus strain, which is being labelled B.1.617 and here's everything you should know about it:

B.1.617: India's double mutant coronavirus variant

If you think that¡¯s bad, pardon me, I¡¯ve got even worrying news. With the second wave threatening to carry even terrible fate, the health officials also detected a new "double mutant variant" of the coronavirus towards March-end delivering a double whammy of sorts.

The double mutant variant has now been scientifically named B.1.617, which contains mutations from two separate virus variants, namely E484Q and L452R. It was identified in samples of saliva taken from people in Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab.

Representative visual

Health experts say the L452R variant was first found in the US, whereas the E484Q variant is indigenous.

Some 10,787 samples from 18 Indian states also showed up 771 cases of known variants--736 of the UK, 34 of the South African and one Brazilian. However, officials say there is no evidence to establish it is widespread resulting in a steep increase in Covid-19 cases.

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), a group of 10 national laboratories under India's health ministry, identified the double mutant variant after carrying out genomic sequencing on the latest samples--a testing process to map the entire genetic code of the virus.

Reuters

How dangerous are double mutants

Mutations in viruses are common and like others, the novel coronavirus keeps changing in small ways as it passes from one person to another. However, most of these changes are insignificant and don't necessarily change their ability to transmit or cause infections.

While both the mutations, traced across separate variants are characteristic for their high infectivity and transmission rates, this is the first time they have merged together, making it many times more infectious and deadly.

Reuters

Experts believe a double mutant variant is more infectious, and with the astronomical pace with which the second wave is spreading, there¡¯s a possibility that the new strain may be to blame after all.

¡°We don¡¯t know for sure whether the upswing in cases is related to variants, but it is a possibility, and we need to investigate it,¡± Shahid Jameel, a medical expert, told DW.

The Health Ministry has also issued a statement saying that the new variant could also increase infection rates and easily surpass immune defences. There¡¯s also another possibility of it reinfecting patients who have already recovered from Covid-19.

Getty Images

But if the virus can use reinfection to spread, then it would be "penetrating" herd immunity, Dr Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, told BBC.

However, the health ministry denies that the rise in cases is linked to the mutations. ¡°Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some States,¡± the ministry said.