BENGALURU : While India joins 20 other countries in Europe, Asia and South America to ban flights from and via UK to prevent the spread of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 from entering the country, The New Indian Express looks at what this mutation means for India.
Virologists and genome researchers say viruses mutate all the time, and that while there is no need for panic, there is no room for complacency either. "The warning from scientists and researchers at Britain about a distinct Phylognetic cluster of SARS-CoV-2 (dubbed lineage B 1.1.7) came at a point when India was waiting for approval from regulators for vaccines that are already in the market. Though the mutation is said to have caused havoc in the UK, we don’t have to panic," says Dr T Jacob John, virologist and former professor at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore.
Researchers in Britain have found that this particular strain mutated about 17 times, which is more than the number of mutations in SARS-CoV-2 that they know of, says Dr Gaurav Sharma, a DST-INSPIRE Faculty Scientist at IBAB, Bengaluru.
"Most of the mutations do not change the virus biology (synonymous mutation), whereas some mutations can make them different by modifying the proteins and therefore their biological function, as compared to the earlier (non-synonymous) mutation," he says.
Coronavirus, like the flu and measles viruses, is an RNA virus that is prone to mutate much faster. In the UK’s current scenario, researchers have claimed that this variant has high transmissibility, almost 70 per cent more than other known strains.
In this case, eight unique non-synonymous mutations are in the spike (S) protein of the virus, and two out them are worrisome as they can putatively alter the SARS-CoV-2 biology and its infection patterns,” he said.
However, he said that nothing is conclusive yet, and that comparative studies of this variant’s genome and biology with other variants are required to know how the virus may behave in future.
Dr V Ravi, senior professor and head of the department of neurovirology at NIMHANS, says that so far this variant has no implications for the disease itself. "Although available evidence suggests that the new strain could be more infectious, the virulence remains the same," he said.
High transmission means more cases, said professor K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India. "The threat to life is not going to be altered, but many more people will get infected which means that a higher proportion will get sick and may die from COVID-19. Many may land up in hospital, burdening the health care system," he said.
A different curve?
Experts claim that the pandemic’s curve in India is different. "While in other countries a tiny hill became a mountain, the curve in India is only one mountain. We actually have given the virus a free hand, and I believe that very few people here are left uninfected. However, we may have to buy a couple of weeks to not let the virus enter and spread fast and burden our healthcare," said Dr Jacob of CMC Vellore.
Impact on vaccines
Experts claim that most vaccines against COVID-19 are designed to produce neutralising antibodies that act on the spike protein, and change in the spike protein can therefore threaten vaccine effectiveness.
What do we know?
Known as lineage B.1.1.7, it was first identified in the county of Kent in the United Kingdom on September 20, and announced on December 14. It is identified by a set of 17 changes.
Is it dangerous for India?
There is no evidence regarding the new strain leading to higher mortality rates but changes seen in the spike protein may result in the virus spreading more easily. More research is needed to know if it is more dangerous.
What does this mean for the vaccine?
The extent to which the virus may evolve and become immune to the vaccine is not known. Studies on this are under way. WHO has said the new variant doesn’t have any impact on the vaccines being rolled out. As more mutations occur vaccines may need to be altered.