The lambda variant of COVID (also known as C.37) was first detected in Peru in August 2020 and it has now spread in about 29 countries, many of them are in Latin America. Peru is the world’s worst affected country by COVID as it has the highest number of COVID deaths per capita till now and around 0.54% of its population has been killed by COVID. For about its 100,000 of the population, 596 people have died of COVID which is almost double to the next hardest-hit country, Hungary, which has 307 deaths per 100,000 people. In Peru, Lambda variant is responsible for more than 90% of the new cases.
Scientists speak of lambda’s “unusual combination” of mutations, which may make it more transmissible. Lambda has seven mutations on the spike protein that helps in invading the cells. These mutations may help lambda to bind to our cells and make it harder for our antibodies to latch onto the virus and neutralize it. Lambda has now spread all over the world and according to a recent WHO report, it has been found in 29 countries and the report states: “Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased COVID-19 incidence.”
On 14th June 2021, WHO declared lambda variant as a “global variant of interest”. Public Health England followed suit on June 23, designating it a “variant under investigation” because of its “international expansion and several notable mutations”. The WHO and other public health bodies are trying to evaluate the implication of these mutations compared to other strains of the COVID 19 virus, on whether it could be more transmissible and more resistant to previous immunity either through natural infection or vaccination. India has not yet reported a case but any new variant is a cause for concern
Symptoms of the Lambda variant:
At present there is no information about the symptoms of Lambda Variant being different from the other strains of coronavirus. Fever, cough, loss of taste, and smell continue to be the main symptoms of COVID-19 in countries where cases of this strain have been detected. The treatment is also the same as that of the previous variants. Initial studies have shown the effectiveness of a monoclonal antibody cocktail against this variant.
Do vaccines protect against the Lambda variant?
In a pre-print scientific paper that has not been peer-reviewed, researchers found that mRNA vaccine is effective against the Lambda variant. The efficacy of Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine has been questioned after the spread of this variant in Peru, Chile, and Brazil who rely majorly on these vaccines. But more studies needs to be done to understand the effect that the lambda variant has on the vaccine efficacy of Covishield and Covaxin
Article by
Divyanka
BioPsych Bioscience
Source of Information:
https://theconversation.com/covid-lambda-variant-is-now-in-29-countries-but-whatevidence-do-we-have-that-its-more-dangerous-163936 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-unusual-lambda-variant-israpidly-spreading-in-south-america-heres-what-we-know https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/covid-19-lambda-variant-mutationcoronavirus-pandemic/
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-covid-explained-what-islambda-variant-can-vaccines-protect-against-it/38795
Comentarios