MUMBAI: Nearly 50% of the samples tested positive for Covid-19 in the state and sent from some districts for genome sequencing have the newly identified and highly contagious Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 named B.1.617.
Most of these samples are from Vidarbha and no sample submitted from the city has so far shown the B.1.617 variant, said scientists involved in INSACOG, a grouping of ten national laboratories that cover the entire perform genomic sequencing of samples.
The Ministry of Health for the Union has so far not provided specific details on the entire genome sequencing project. In a statement on Friday, 13,614 samples of the entire genome sequence were processed in the 10 INSACOG laboratories as of Thursday. Of these, 1 189 samples tested positive for the varieties of SARS COV-2 in India. This includes 1,109 samples with British variants; 79 samples with the South African variant and one sample with the Brazilian variant, ”reads the statement from the ministry.
Some information about the results of the samples sent from the state was given to Rajesh Tope, Minister of Health, on Saturday during a virtual meeting with the Minister of Health in the Union, dr. Harsh Vardhan.
Tope said that of the 1100 samples sent so far, 500 have been examined.
State Government seeks detailed report on the Indian variant
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday after learning that 50% of the state’s Covid-19 positive samples had the highly contagious Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 called B.1.617, he asked for ‘ a detailed report of the center on it. He said he was told it would only be available at the end of the investigation.
The concern in the state – and also the rest of the world, because the Indian variant has been isolated in multiple samples in the United Kingdom and the USA – is the high portability of the variant.
“As the new variant is very contagious, we sought a report and revised guidelines from the center,” Tope said. “The center said a detailed report would only be available at the end of the investigation.”
State Director of Health Services Dr Archana Patil said she did know where the samples were collected. “In some samples changes are seen, but there is no comment on whether this explains this surge,” Patil said.
The B.1.617 was first identified by scientists from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi as part of the INSACOG project. They noted that two mutations, L452R and E484K, are known to have the ability to escape antibodies.
Articles written by experts around the world noted that the Indian variant could ‘at least partially’ drive the current wave.
The director of IGIB, Dr Anurag Agrawal, said that since December, nearly 15,000 Covid-19 positive samples have been studied. ‘Our team of scientists has identified the variant that has since been called B.1.617. In general, it is present in a small percentage of samples, but its presence has increased in recent weeks, ‘said dr. Agrawal said.
Scientists from other countries had more details. ‘The new tribe has been detected in at least five Indian states, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, all of which have contributed to the increase in cases in the country, in addition to the B.1.1.7 (UK), B.1.351 (South Africa ) and P.1 (Brazil) variants that are also distributed in India, ”said William A. Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, in a Forbes article.
He writes that although the extent to which the strain has spread was unknown, of the 2,844 series submitted to the GISAID database from India on March 1, 162 series (approximately 6%) were classified as B.1.617. “This 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 the B.1.617 variant, said scientists involved in INSACOG, a grouping of ten national laboratories that cover the entire perform genomic sequencing of samples.
The Ministry of Health for the Union has so far not provided specific details on the entire genome sequencing project. In a statement on Friday, 13,614 samples of the entire genome sequence were processed in the 10 INSACOG laboratories as of Thursday. Of these, 1 189 samples tested positive for the varieties of SARS COV-2 in India. This includes 1,109 samples with British variants; 79 samples with the South African variant and one sample with the Brazilian variant, ”reads the statement from the ministry.
Some information about the results of the samples sent from the state was given to Rajesh Tope, Minister of Health, on Saturday during a virtual meeting with the Minister of Health in the Union, dr. Harsh Vardhan.
Tope said that of the 1100 samples sent so far, 500 have been examined.
State Government seeks detailed report on the Indian variant
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday after learning that 50% of the state’s Covid-19 positive samples had the highly contagious Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 called B.1.617, he asked for ‘ a detailed report of the center on it. He said he was told it would only be available at the end of the investigation.
The concern in the state – and also the rest of the world, because the Indian variant has been isolated in multiple samples in the United Kingdom and the USA – is the high portability of the variant.
“As the new variant is very contagious, we sought a report and revised guidelines from the center,” Tope said. “The center said a detailed report would only be available at the end of the investigation.”
State Director of Health Services Dr Archana Patil said she did know where the samples were collected. “In some samples changes are seen, but there is no comment on whether this explains this surge,” Patil said.
The B.1.617 was first identified by scientists from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi as part of the INSACOG project. They noted that two mutations, L452R and E484K, are known to have the ability to escape antibodies.
Articles written by experts around the world noted that the Indian variant could ‘at least partially’ drive the current wave.
The director of IGIB, Dr Anurag Agrawal, said that since December, nearly 15,000 Covid-19 positive samples have been studied. ‘Our team of scientists has identified the variant that has since been called B.1.617. In general, it is present in a small percentage of samples, but its presence has increased in recent weeks, ‘said dr. Agrawal said.
Scientists from other countries had more details. ‘The new tribe has been detected in at least five Indian states, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, all of which have contributed to the increase in cases in the country, in addition to the B.1.1.7 (UK), B.1.351 (South Africa ) and P.1 (Brazil) variants that are also distributed in India, ”said William A. Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, in a Forbes article.
He writes that although the extent to which the strain has spread was unknown, of the 2,844 series submitted to the GISAID database from India on March 1, 162 series (approximately 6%) were classified as B.1.617. “This percentage is likely to grow,” he said.