Telangana reports six BA.2 subvariant cases
Hyderabad: Different hybrid recombinants and mutations of the Omicron variant have continued to get reported by genetic researchers from across India. The latest to be reported is BA. 2 Omicron subvariant with L452R mutation in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Overall, between January and March, about 57 cases of L452R Omicron variant, which was first sequenced in South Africa, were reported by the gene sequencing laboratories under the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) in India, of which 6 were from Telangana, 11 in Andhra Pradesh and 18 in Karnataka.
The L452R mutation has the potential to increase both the infectivity and virulence of SARS-CoV-2. However, at this point of time, the direct link of L452R mutation to disease severity is not yet clearly established. Senior public health officials and geneticists have said that the rate at which new hybrid variants of BA.1 and BA.2 and mutations of BA.2 are getting reported, the general public in Telangana must realise that this is not the ideal time to take off face masks, especially when individuals go to crowded areas.
The variants of Omicron have continued to remain highly transmissible and a new variant capable of escaping the immunity is enough to trigger a fresh surge of Covid infections, they point out. A group of researchers led by Dr L Ding from the Department of Medical Molecular Biology, Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, in a study on L452R, which was published in Nature science journal on March 9, said that ‘the Omicron-L452R variant enhanced the ability of Omicron to infect lung tissues of humanized mice’.
Dr Ding in the study said: “The Omicron-L452R variant strengthened infectivity, suggesting that the Omicron-L452R is a very risky variant”. The researchers in the study said that L452R mutation dramatically increases the risk of the Omicron variant and highlighted the need to closely monitor the Omicron-L452R mutation and the need to develop specific therapeutic antibodies and vaccines that target the L452R mutation.
Based on initial reports and analysis, the BA.2 plus L452R variant is identical to the BA2 genome and the L452R mutation is also present in the Delta, Kappa, and Lambda variants of SARS-CoV-2 concern and interest. The BA.2 plus L452R variant was first isolated in South Africa and so far the transmissibility has been limited. Senior public health officials point out that in the coming weeks, more such Omicron variants are expected to appear and it’s very important to track and understand each of them.
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