Covid-19 pandemic: B.1.617 most common strain detected, says Harsh Vardhan

Accounts for over 20% of samples sent for genome sequencing

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan at the 4th FII Summit

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that the B.1.617 variant of coronavirus, first detected in India, has become the most common mutation detected so far, and was found in more than 20 per cent of samples sent for genome sequencing. Vardhan was speaking at the 27th high-level meeting of the Group of Ministers on Covid-19. He said 25,739 samples have been sequenced and variant B.1.617 has been found in 5,261 samples. “States have been requested to send samples regularly for better analysis,” he added.

B.1.617, which has been termed a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been found to be moderately resistant to antibodies and is highly transmissible, but has low severity among those who are vaccinated, according to a molecular study. The strain was detected in Maharashtra towards the end of 2020 and spread throughout India and to at least 40 countries. Sharing details of mucormycosis infections in the country, Vardhan said that 5,424 cases have been reported from 18 states. Gujarat and Maharashtra have reported the highest number of such cases.

More than half, or 55 per cent, of those affected had diabetes and almost 84 per cent (4,556 cases) had a history of Covid-19 infection. The remaining were non-Covid cases. As many as “900,000 vials of Amphotericin-B are being imported by the central government for treatment of Black Fungus. Of this, 50,000 vials have been received and around 300,000 will be available in the next 7 days,” Vardhan said.

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