India: The World Health Organization (WHO) warned today that the Indian variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus, which could be the cause of the pandemic regrowth in this Asian country, shows indications of being more contagious and resistant to some vaccines and treatments, according to studies of laboratories carried out, Cubasi reports.
According to WHO, the variant has mutations “associated with an increase in transmission” and with a lesser capacity to face the virus with some treatments with monoclonal antibodies, it said in his usual epidemiological report.
Likewise, some analyzes carried out in the United States reflect a possible reduction in the neutralizing effects of immunizing drugs against this variant, and even preliminary investigations with the Novavax-Covaxin vaccine showed that this cannot counteract it, WHO indicated.
At the end of 2020, the first cases were detected in India with this variant. Currently, it is being studied from one thousand 200 sequencing of its genome in 17 countries, including India, the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore.
Although there is concern about the incidence of this virus in India (almost concentrating 40 percent of the new global cases), WHO still observes it as “variant of interest” and not “variant of concern”. The highest level of alert has the South African, Brazilian and British variants.