New Delhi: As India is battling the second wave of coronavirus cases and bracing itself for the third wave too, a new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.28.2 has been detected in the country by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Basically, the new variant was detected through genome sequencing of samples collected from foreign travellers from Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Key details related to the new COVID-19 variant are inside.
As per the reports, the new variant was isolated from the nasal and throat swabs from some of these international travellers who arrived in India.
All About New COVID-19 variant B.1.1.28.2 | Key Details
- A test was conducted for about seven days on nine Syrian hamsters.
- This model of the study was conducted on hamsters.
- The genome sequencing was done from the nasal and throat swabs taken from International travellers from Brazil and the United Kingdom.
- The study was performed in Vero CCL81 cells.
Is the new COVID variant dangerous?
Well, according to the experts and the news reports, the newly detected COVID-19 variant is very similar to the Delta variant and can prove to be dangerous as it could induce body weight loss, viral replication in the respiratory tract lung lesion and cause severe lung pathology.
The variant was isolated and its pathology was done with the Alpha variant of COVID-19. And the results? Well, comparatively it was found that it can cause severe symptoms when a patient is infected with this newly detected variant.
This was what has been found in the hamsters that were used for the test and the study conducted by NIV Pune. Besides, the report has said the new variant is likely to cause severe symptoms and may need greater screening of vaccine efficacy against it.
Meanwhile, a broader study by INSACOG, a grouping of 10 laboratories, has found that the sudden surge of Covid-19 cases in India in the last two months shows a correlation with the rise in B.1.617 variant of the SARS-CoV-2.