Hyderabad: The double mutant, B.1.617, which is predominantly found in Maharashtra and to a lesser extent in other parts of the country, has diverged further to give three sub-lineages. These sub-lineages are now technically called B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3, top scientists said on Sunday.
City scientists, who studied these new sub-lineages or mutants, however, say that more research is required to find out if they are more potent or dangerous as compared to other variants now in circulation.
Besides Maharashtra and Kerala, the ‘double mutant’ is present in Telangana and AP, where its percentage in Covid-19 positive cases varies from 5 to 10 per cent. In Maharashtra, it is present in about 70 per cent of the cases registered of late.
Health experts attribute the spurt in cases in Maharashtra and other parts of the country to the new local variants, including B.1.617, but scientists point out that more research is needed to link the sudden rise in positivity and severity of infections, including high mortality.
Stating that the lineage B.1.617 has now been divided into three sub-lineages as B.1.617 has further diverged, Divya Tej Sowpati, a top scientist at the city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, tweeted “at present, I am not aware of these sub-lineages being associated with any epidemiological or clinical significance”.
