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Updated April 22nd, 2021 at 19:03 IST

What is triple mutant COVID-19 strain? All about new variant found in 4 Indian states

A new “triple mutation” variant of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has been identified in India and has even spread to other nations. It is called B.1.618.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
COVID-19
Image credits: Unsplash/PTI | Image:self
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A new “triple-mutant” variant of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has been identified in India and has even spread to other nations. Named B.1.618, the triple mutant variant of COVID-19 has is believed to have spread in states including Maharashtra, New Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh where an uptick of coronavirus infections is registered. After previously identifying the “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus, how worrying is “triple mutant” that occurs when three different strains come together to form a  new mutation. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019, several other mutations of the original SARS-CoV-2 that was found in China, have been identified. While scientists have often insisted that variants are bound to happen as the virus spreads more broadly, the triple mutation can be another challenge for scientists as it has been found that plasma therapy is ineffective in the triple mutant virus strain. 

What is ‘triple mutation’? 

As only preliminary research has been done on the triple mutation of the novel coronavirus, Vinod Scaria, a scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Institute of Genomic and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) in New Delhi posted a thread on Twitter detailing all about the strain.

In simple terms, as the virus gets more ground to replicate, often it experiences genetic mutations to become more immune to the environment and escape medicines to enable its spread. Even though most mutations don’t cause any additional harm and don’t show significant changes, others are. Triple mutant has three different strains that have combined together to form a fresh variant. One of the variants in triple mutation is E484K which is also identified as a “major immune escape variant.”

As per a CNN report, Penny Moore, associate professor at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, called the E484K mutation "alarming” which is now a part of the triple mutant strain found in India. 

How worrying is ‘triple mutant’ COVID-19 strain?

While the range of mutations of COVID-19 is enabling the virus to infect a wider population and build resistance to existing drugs, the actual in-depth knowledge about the triple mutation coronavirus strain will only be determined following more studies. As of now, there are ten labs across India that are studying the virus genome and informed about the “double mutant” coronavirus strain only last month. The double mutant COVID-19 variant was termed a ‘variant of concern’. 

However, for now, the triple mutation in India has been classified as a "variant of interest. But, “escape variant” that is a part of B.1.618 led several experts to “worry” as Moore reportedly also said, “We fear this mutation might have an impact, and what we don't know is the extent of the impact.” Andrew Ward, a structural virologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California noting the constant changes of the virus genomes, reportedly said, "This virus may be taking the first steps down a fairly lengthy road towards vaccine resistance.”

Are vaccines effective against triple mutation?

Two out of the three variants in the triple mutation are well-known in the scientific community for escaping immune responses. This further implies that those two mutations are already resistant to antibodies. However, not much credible information is available regarding vaccine efficacy against triple mutant coronavirus strain, at the moment. 

Image credits: Unsplash/PTI

 

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Published April 22nd, 2021 at 19:03 IST

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