Covid-19 study: IHU variant is not spreading far enough, cases are extremely rare
IHU variant caused concern because of its large number of mutations (46), which is even greater than the Omicron strain
According to a new study, the new 'IHU' strain of the coronavirus, which was discovered in France late last month, is not spreading far enough to constitute a big concern. Despite the fact that the inquiry of the new strain's behaviour is still in its early stages, researchers have found little to cause concern.
The paper has been published on MedRxiv, but it has not yet been peer-reviewed. "It is still early to speculate on the IHU variants as the number of cases is extremely low" the researchers wrote.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also stated earlier this week that the 'IHU' variety does not pose a significant concern at this time.
The new variation was discovered in November and has since been on WHO's radar. The world health organisation has not yet classified it as a "variant under research."
However, the latest research suggests keeping an eye on the 'IHU' variation.
For the time being, the world's attention is focused on the Omicron variant, which is causing a worldwide outbreak of coronavirus illness (Covid-19). The Omicron strain has wreaked havoc on the United States and Europe.
In comparison to Omicron, the IHU variation has 46 mutations and 37 deletions in its genetic sequence. Several of these have an impact on the spike protein.
Researchers from Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, part of France's Instituts hospitalo-universitaires (IHU, or University Hospital Institutes), announced the finding of the variant, which is a sub-lineage of the B.1.640. B.1.640.2 has been assigned to it.
The IHU variation was detected in November in a sample from a man who spent three days in Cameroon, Africa.
When he started having respiratory problems, he was tested for Covid-19. The presence of the B.1.640.2 variation was detected in the sample.
Although a localised outbreak of the virus was reported in France and blamed on the IHU strain, Vinod Scaria, a scientist from Delhi's Institute of Genomic and Integrative Biology, remarked on Twitter that there is no proof of this.
Meanwhile, the B.1.640 isn't a brand-new model. It was initially discovered on January 1, 2021, and 400 infections have been identified so far, according to outbreak.info.
