R.1 COVID Variant: What we know so far about the new strain; its symptoms & mutations

Researchers have found another strain, the R.1 variant which is presently responsible for a small number of cases in the United States and the world. Just days after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Delta variant has emerged as the most prominent strain of the coronavirus and has surpassed all other variants, the experts drew attention to another strain that is not new. Notably, the R.1 variant of the existing SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in Japan in 2020. Since then, it has made its way to other nations.

Additionally, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dated April 21 that the R.1 mutation has been present in the United States from April 2021. In fact, the US CDC had also said that in part, the strain was responsible for an outbreak in nursing homes in Kentucky this year. During the investigations of a COVID-19 outbreak among the patients in the nursing home, the Kentucky Department of Health and a local health department, as per the Health report, discovered the R.1 variant during genome sequencing. 

At the time, as per the Health report, the Kentucky health authorities had also said that the R.1 mutation might be most likely to drive breakthrough infections than past strains. Newsweek has stated that the mutation has been detected in at least 47 US states and is connected to at least 2,259 cases of coronavirus. 

What’s R.1 variant?

As per the Health report, Dr. Amesh A Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security, has said that the R.1 variant is is a version of the existing SARS-CoV-2 virus that has mutations linked to the functioning of the coronavirus. He reportedly implied that, unlike other mutations, the R.1 variant can impact the patients in a different manner.

According to Adalja, while any new variant can pose a threat, the identification of R.1 should not necessarily cause panic. As per the Health report, it remains unlikely that the R.1 variant will surpass the Delta variant. He has said, “I don’t suspect it will be a major problem” because it lacks the ability to replace the Delta variant which has caused fresh waves of COVID-19 in several nations. 

However, Adalja noted that the issue with this specific mutation is that it could potentially affect more people who are vaccinated against COVID-19. He told the Health report, that the issue with R.1 strain is that it does contain some mutations the experts saw with the B and G variants “people forgot about.” According to him, that factor makes breakthrough infections more common. Even US CDC said in its report that “Although the R.1 variant is not currently identified as a CDC variant of concern or interest, it does have several mutations of importance.”

“In addition, four possible reinfections were identified, providing some evidence of limited or waning natural immunity to this variant,” US CDC added.

How contagious is R.1 strain?

It still has to be determined if the R.1 strain spreads more or less rapidly than the other strains of COVID-19 which emerged in over a year of the pandemic. But, it is established that this specific strain has some mutations that might impact people differently than the previous variants. While most health experts have said that R.1 lacks the ability to surpass the Delta variant, some of them have called the strain that was first discovered in Japan has “probably more contagious.” Charlene Brown, M.D., Ph.D., public health physician and advisor for Everlywell, an at-home health testing company, was quoted by Shape saying that R.1 variant is “is probably more contagious than some other strains of COVID-19 we have encountered.”

What kind of mutations does R.1 have?

US CDC has stated that the whole genome sequencing (WGS) of the infected persons in Kentucky revealed that the sequences share spike protein mutations “E484K, D614G, G769V, and W152L with the R.1 root.” According to US health authorities, the D614G demonstrates evidence of increasing virus transmissibility. Meanwhile, E484K mutation, which is found in the receptor-binding aspect of the spike protein, has also been found in other designated ‘variants of concern’ B.1.351 and P.1. 

According to CDC, E484K mutation in R.1 strain is evidence of reduced neutralisation by vaccination. It added in its report in April 2021, that mutation W152L “might reduce the effectiveness of neutralizing antibodies.”

How many COVID-19 cases account for R.1 and it's symptoms?

The Health report stated that according to Ramon Lorenzo Redondo, PhD, research assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicines, presently, only 0.5% of COVID-19 cases in the US and worldwide are caused by the R.1 variant. Redondo also noted that the R.1 variant is not genetically sequenced or genetically identified in a US case since early August. According to him, a strain such as the R.1 can not account for more than 1% of infections “even at its peak.”

Notably, the symptoms of R.1 strain are not unique to new when compared to what the health authorities have already known about other COVID-19 strains. This means that like other strains of SARS-CoV-2, R.1 infection also showcases fevers, chills, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell or both, among other illnesses such as diarrhoea or vomiting.

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