Bangladesh faces great danger from Indian triple mutation Covid variant
PBC News: 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, reports NDTV.
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The newly emerged virus variant is so infectious that it poses serious threat to Bangladesh as cases driven by the triple mutant has appeared in West Bengal, Delhi and Maharastra.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.
Scientists believe the new surges globally are driven by new variants.
“This is a more transmissible variant. It is making lots of people sick very quickly,” said Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University.
That sets up a huge challenge for India, where genome sequencing is being done for less than one per cent of all cases, currently.
According to experts, the delay in detecting the double mutation may have contributed to the current virus spurt.
Why so many mutations?
The more a virus spreads, the more it replicates and the more it mutates.
What is the triple mutation?
A double mutation, which surfaced in India, was when two strains combined. Now three Covid variants have combined to form the triple mutation.
Where has the triple mutation been found?
Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi
Is the triple mutation infectious?
Experts believe mutations are driving the fresh infection spikes, not just in India but across the world.
How infectious the triple mutation is, or how deadly, will be known only from more studies. For now, only 10 labs across India are involved in virus genome studies.
The double mutant shows increased transmission rate and is seen to affect children too. It has more severe pathogenicity, say scientists.
