Pune scientists isolating Covid sub-variants behind India's new cases

The move to identify the current sub-variants will help in assessing vaccine effectiveness and whether a new vaccine is needed, said Dr Naveen Kumar of the NIV

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Amid the recent rise of new Covid cases in India, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) on Wednesday said it is conducting genome sequencing and isolating four new sub-variants of the Omicron virus that are believed to be responsible for the new outbreak.

 

Genome sequencing is the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism, giving scientists information about the reproduction, evolution and functions of the organism.

 

This effort will help in assessing vaccine effectiveness and whether a new vaccine needs to be developed, said Dr Naveen Kumar, director of the Pune-based NIV, which operates under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

 

An upsurge of Covid cases has been reported since the second week of April this year, beginning in southeast Asia.

 

"Scientists at NIV are doing monitoring, genome sequencing and isolating the new variants. The strain which was circulating in Singapore was also found in India five to six weeks ago," Dr Kumar said. "Isolation is important to replace the existing vaccine strain if at all it is required. Whether or not this needs to be replaced is something which is to be critically analysed based on the severity of the disease. So far, it appears that the strains are not much severe. However, the decision of making a new vaccine using the currently circulating strains is taken by policymakers after extensive discussion."

 

Kumar said that after genome sequencing of samples across India, four sub-variants of Omicron - LF.7, XFG, JN.1.16 and NB.1.8.1 - have been found. Genomic analysis revealed that the surge was due to the JN.1.16 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant, and since May, it was replaced by the XFG (LF.7 and LP.81.2) recombinant variant.

 

Whole genome sequences have been submitted to the Indian Biological Data Centre and the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, Kumar said.

 

Currently, two monovalent Omicron-based vaccines are available: Biological E's Corbivax and Serum Institute of India's COVOVAX.

 

Covid cases in India

 

The Covid caseload in the country saw a marginal dip on Wednesday, with 6,483 active cases compared to 6,837 cases on Tuesday.

 

Since 1 January, 113 deaths due to Covid-19 have been reported, primarily among individuals with pre-existing conditions.

 

Kerala has seen the steepest dip in caseload; however, it remains the most-affected state, followed by Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi, according to data released by the Ministry of Health.

 

Medical experts believe that the current upsurge in cases is a ‘mini wave’, as the virus is behaving more like a seasonal flu now. They also believe that such seasonal flus will become more common in the near future.