4 hours agoWriters: Abhishek Pandey

The discovery of a new strain in the midst of the rapid spread of a new variant of the corona virus, Omicron, has raised the world’s concern. This new strain found in France has been named IHU. 46 mutations have been found in the IHU variant. Because of this, the tension has increased about it. On the one hand, due to Omicron, the corona is growing very fast in the world and scientists are trying to find ways to deal with it, in such a situation, this new strain has given rise to the possibility of spreading a new wave of corona epidemic.

Let us know what is Corona’s new strain IHU? Where was its first case found? How dangerous can Corona’s new strain IHU be?

Why is IHU being called the new variant of Corona?

The first case of IHU was found in France. It is a sub-lineage of the Corona variant B.1.640. French researchers have classified the IHU variant as sub-lineage B.1.640.2 after cases of this variant were detected in France in November 2021.

The information about this new strain IHU comes from a study posted on medRxiv on 29 December 2021. The discovery of this new strain has been announced by researchers from the University Hospital Institutes (IHU) of the Mediterranean Infection in Marseilles, led by scientist Didier Raoul. French researchers have given this variant the nickname IHU.

Where was the first case of IHU found?

According to Forbes, the first case of the IHU strain was found in France in mid-November (2021) and so far 12 cases have been found there. That is, IHU’s case was received even before the first case (24 November) of Corona’s new variant of concern Omicron was found.

The first case of IHU was found in a person from France who was vaccinated and had returned from the African country of Cameroon. He was found to be Kovid-19 positive in the test after he showed symptoms of difficulty in breathing. It was confirmed to have IHU or B.1.640.2 variant. After receiving the first case of IHU, 11 more cases were reported from the same geographical area of ​​south-western France.

How dangerous is the new variant?

IHU has a large number of mutations and concerns have been raised about some of its mutations being similar to other variants, such as alpha. According to preliminary reports, there have been 46 mutations and 37 deletions in the genetic code of IHU, most of them in the spike protein.

It is believed that the mutations in IHU are more than the Omicron variants causing havoc worldwide. More than 36 mutations were detected in Omicron’s spike protein. It is through the spike protein that the virus sticks to human cells.

However, researchers have said that it is too early to make any guesses about IHU regarding protection from infection and vaccine.

Where in the world have new strain cases been found?

Cases of IHU or B.1.640.2 variant of Corona have so far been found only in France. Since its first case surfaced in November 2021 in southwestern France, 12 cases have been registered so far.

However, no other country in the world has confirmed cases of IHU. According to outbreak.info, the last case of this variant was registered on 25 December 2021. Since then no more cases of this variant have been registered in the global database.

How Fast Do IHU Variants Spread?

So far, 12 cases of IHU (B.1.640.2) have been found only in France. No other country has confirmed cases of IHU. It is not yet clear how powerful IHU is or how much faster it spreads than other known strains of the coronavirus.

However, IHU or its predecessor corona variant B.1.640 is believed to be not as contagious as Omicron and not spreading as fast.

According to the study published in MedRxiv, it is too early to make any guesses about the virological, epidemiological and clinical features of the IHU variant.

What did WHO say on the new variant?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet declared IHU a ‘variant of interest’ or a ‘variant of concern’. However, in November 2021, WHO announced that variant B.1.640 would be placed under ‘Variant Under Monitoring’ or VUM. WHO has not yet placed IHU in any category.

WHO has said that it is keeping an eye on IHU. WHO’s Kovid Incident Manager Abdi Mahmoud said on Tuesday about the IHU in Geneva that he is on its radar. Abdi said, “That virus had a lot of potential to spread.”

More study to be done about IHU

Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding has shared a lengthy Twitter thread post regarding the IHU variant. Ding wrote that new variants of Corona keep coming out, but this does not mean that they will be more dangerous.

In his tweet on Tuesday, Ding said, “What makes a variant more dangerous is its ability to multiply due to the number of mutations it contains.”

“When this happens, it becomes a ‘variant of concern’ – like Omicron, which is more infectious and capable of dodging immunity. It remains to be seen which category this new variant (IHU) will fall into,” he said. ”

Know the variant of which IHU is sub-lineage of B.1.640

The IHU variant mentioned by the French researchers is a sub-lineage of the variant B.1.640 of Corona, which was placed in the ‘Variants of Monitoring’ by the WHO in November 2021 itself.

The variant found in 12 people from France in November 2021 has now been classified by French researchers as sub-lineage B.1.640.2.

B.1.640 is not a new variant of Karona. According to outbreak.info, a website that tracks the spread of various variants through the genome sequencing database, the lineage B.1.640 of Corona was first identified on January 1, 2021. According to this, more than 400 cases of infection related to this lineage have been identified worldwide so far.

According to this report, cases of corona strain B.1.640 have been reported in 19 countries of the world, out of which one case has also been found in India. Only one case was found out of 89763 genome sequences from India reported in the global database.

Most cases of the B.1.640 strain of Corona have been found in France (287), Congo (39), Germany (17) and the United Kingdom (16). Its highest prevalence was found in Congo, where 39 cases were found out of 454 genome sequences.

Why is getting the IHU variant a matter of concern?

The arrival of the new variant IHU of Corona is another worrying news for the world already facing the crisis of Omicron variant. The first case of Omicron was found on 24 November 2021 in South Africa and in less than a month and a half it has spread to more than 100 countries of the world.

Due to Omicron, corona cases are increasing very fast in America, Europe and India too. Due to Omicron, a third wave is expected in India in January-February.

The number of daily cases in the country is expected to go up to 1.6 million during the third wave, which is 4 times more than the maximum number of 4 lakh daily cases during the second wave.

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