NEW DELHI: Over 5,000 children in the age group of 0-18 years were infected by the BA.2 sub-variant, the most dominant variant circulating globally and in India, since January this year, according to the samples analysed by Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).
From January 1 to July 25, 5,439 children were detected with the BA.2 variant, which has been classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is described as a stealth variant that spreads faster than other Omicron sub-variants.
Samples of 1,278 children showed that they were detected with Omicron and other sub-lineages, according to the data shared with the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The INSACOG, set up in 2020 under the Union Health Ministry to study and monitor genome sequencing and virus variation of circulating strains of Covid-19, also found Omicron sub-lineage B.1.1.529, classified as a variant of concern by the WHO, among 645 children.
While 74 children were infected with Delta sub-lineages, around 44 children were infected with the Delta B.1.617.2 lineage, first identified in Maharashtra and then spread throughout India in 2020, as per the data.
According to the WHO, Covid-19 infections among children and adolescents typically cause less severe illness than in adults. According to the health ministry, as of July 26, 9.96 crores first dose (82.2 percent coverage) and 7.79 crores second dose (64.3 percent coverage) have been administered in children between the age group of 12-18 years of age.
To a written reply in the Lok Sabha on vaccinating children below 12 years, Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said that vaccination among this age group has not started under the National Covid-19 vaccination programme in the country. Dr N K Arora, head of the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), in India, the BA.2 variant is still dominant.
“In India, BA.2 is still 85 per cent. BA.4 and BA.5 are not expanding in India the way it is happening worldwide,” he added. Scientists say the variant — called BA.2.75 — may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infection. It’s unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than other omicron variants, including the globally prominent BA.5.
The latest mutant has been spotted in several distant states in India, and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there, said Lipi Thukral, a scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi. It’s also been detected in about 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. Two cases were recently identified on the West Coast of the US, and Helix identified a third US case last week.
Cases detected for various variants
5439 Variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus.
1278 Omicron other sub-lineages.
645 Omicron (B.1.1.529).
74 Delta Sub-Lineages.
44 Delta (B.1.617.2).