In the spread of Omicron coronavirus variants, the discovery of a new strain that emerged in France has attracted the attention of experts from all over the world. It was named “IHU”, which caused concerns about a new wave of infections.

This variant has 46 mutations and 37 deletions in its genetic code, which is more than Omicron. Many of these affect the spike protein.

This variant is a sub-family of B.1.640, and its discovery was announced by researchers at Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, which is part of the French Hospital University (IHU, or University Hospital Research Institute)-hence the name. It has been classified as B.1.640.2. When was IHU first discovered?

According to Forbes, the first known case of a variant of IHU was discovered in mid-November 2021. This predates Omicron’s official discovery (November 24).

The new variant was discovered in a French man returning from Cameroon, Africa (Omicron was also found on the continent). He began to develop respiratory symptoms and was tested for Covid-19. The sample returned positive and there is a B.1.640.2 variant.

Read also | 5 great things about IHU variants

Since then, 11 more cases have been reported in the same geographic area in southwestern France.

More information on the B.1.640 pedigree

The pedigree is not new. According to data from Exposure.info, an open source database of Covid-19 resources and epidemiological data, B.1.640 was first detected on January 1, 2021. It said that so far, 400 infections related to this lineage have been identified.

The outbreak information further reported that B.1.640 cases were detected in as many as 19 countries/regions, including one from India. The Indian case was detected from 89,763 sequences reported in the global database.

France (287) reported the most cases of the B.1.640 variant, followed by Congo (39), Germany (17) and the United Kingdom (16).

Do IHU variants spread faster?

So far, only a dozen cases have been reported in France. No other countries have found any new cases of new variants. It is not clear whether B.1.640.2 is stronger or spread faster than other previously known coronavirus strains.

This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet considered this variant of IHU as a variant of interest, a variant of interest, or even a variant under investigation.

Based on a preprinted paper published on MedRxiv, it is too early to speculate on the virological, epidemiological or clinical characteristics of this variant of IHU.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times