VIJAYAWADA: In the wake of reports about a variant of COVID-19 being 10-15 times more virulent than previously known variants, the health department on Thursday clarified that the presence of N440K, which was reported to be the cause for surge in cases, was minimal in the state.
In a statement, chairman of the State Covid Command and Control Centre Dr KS Jawahar Reddy said the N440K strain of coronavirus (B.1.36) was detected in June-July 2020 in South India (AP, Karnataka and Telangana). "This strain was prevalent in December, January and February, and its presence dropped drastically in March. Now the share of N440K among the positives is very minimal," he added.
It may be recalled that The New Indian Express, quoting CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) experts, had recently published in its columns a report about the fading impact of N440K.
Jawahar Reddy explained B.1.617 and B.1 were the major strains identified in the samples from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana in April. The strains are very infectious, and spreading even among the younger population.
B.1.617 comes from two notable mutations, and was first detected in the western parts of India. "Although N440K variant was shown to be efficient in cell culture system in experimental conditions, it is important to remember that just because a variant behaves a certain way in cell cultures (with no competition, and in controlled settings), it does not mean it will behave the same way in humans, or in a complicated pandemic scenario. N440K story is one such example," Jawahar Reddy said.
It is pertinent to note that COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update of April 25, issued by WHO, mentions about lineage B.1.617 as VOI (Variant of Interest) from India and doesn’t mention about variant N440K.
"If this variant is of such public health concern as reported in certain sections of media, it should have by now found place in WHO reports as well as ICMR reports. Hence, it is clarified that research data so far does not establish that N440K is a Variant of Interest, and is very virulent," Jawahar Reddy said.
According to the WHO, this Indian strain has been detected in at least 17 countries, including the UK, US and Singapore, he clarified. The issue of the new variant garnered public attention with news regarding it going viral on social media, and certain section of media picked it and gave even more publicity.
Further, it became a cause of political slugfest between leaders of Opposition and the ruling party, with former trying to corner the latter for its 'failure' to recognise the new variant and address the issue.The department urged the people not to be carried away by such reports, which have not been verified by experts for their 'scientific validity', and urged those who are spreading such reports to be more responsible.