As India reports nearly three lakh cases and over 2,000 deaths in 24 hours, the biggest jump since the pandemic erupted, a new mutation in the COVID virus has emerged as the new challenge.
After the double mutation, its now the triple mutation, meaning three different Covid strains combining to form a new variant, has been detected in parts of the country.
With second wave of Covid wreaking havoc in India, a third mutation in this B.1.617 strain has now been identified in at least 4 states, spiraling as a major cause of concern.
Two of these triple-mutant varieties have been found in samples collected from Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, and this might aggravate India’s Covid crisis further.
According to an Indian Express report, sources said the Health Ministry was last week briefed about the possibility of a double mutant variant developing another significant mutation and becoming a ‘triple-mutant.’
The report further said that West Bengal seems to be becoming the hotspot for such mutations and the new triple mutant could make the virus even more capable of evading human immune response.
“This is a more transmissible variant. It is making lots of people sick very quickly,” reported NDTV quoting Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University.
Professor Pai also stressed on the need to “keep tweaking the vaccine” and the “sequencing on war footing”. He also added that the delay in detecting the double mutation may have contributed to the current virus spurt.
More studies are required to establish how infectious or deadly the triple mutation can prove to be, for now, only 10 labs across India are involved in virus genome studies, the report added. The double mutant has resulted in increased transmission rate and is seen to impact children too with more severe pathogenicity, according to scientists.
Currently, the triple mutation has been classified in India as a “variant of interest” rather than a “variant of concern”, according to the report.