Ankita Chattopadhyay, Amity University Kolkata
Previously, COVID19 was associated with the onset of numerous symptoms that ranged from mild to moderate severity, starting from cough and fever to complete loss of movement in some cases. Unusual numbers of people from all over the world started showing different sorts of symptoms with different severities, at some point or the other during the course of the ongoing pandemic. Therefore, it is highly requested that whatsoever be one’s symptoms, it is best to consult a doctor for the better.
The ‘Old’ vs the ‘New’-
It is characteristic for a virus to mutate and transform itself from time to time for extending its lifespan. This ability is often deemed quite fear-inducing as it would render the designing of vaccines useless. Studies mention that the latest strain of the virus causes more severe symptoms although its efficacy of transmission has not been determined as of yet. It is a matter of concern as it’s a replacement variant of the strain, which can “jump back and forth” amongst various animal species. Upon studying the genetics of the newer strain, a total of 23 mutations were observed. The new type was first discovered in the UK in September and is raging in numerous parts now from east to capital London. The name of the strain is VOC 202012/01 or B.1.1.7. Its discovery has once again forced people to stay quarantined in the new year, just like in 2020.
Taking Immediate Measures –
This sudden outbreak has led the UK government in establishing a radical shift in its vaccination ideas by administering people with the primary dose rather than stockpiling with the second dosage that’ll soon be required as well. Due to the increasing gravity of the situation, Indian experts under pressure declared to roll-out the vaccine called COVAXIN™ made by Bharat Biotech on an emergency and experimental basis. A Cambridge firm reported that the vaccine depicted 94% effectiveness in fighting against the wild-type strain of the virus. They have analyzed the blood from 34 volunteers that had been given two vaccine doses to grasp its protection tenure.
Detection-
A person having fever, lacking smell, dry coughing, headache, lacking ability of speech, body aches, rashes, diarrhea are some of the common symptoms depicting the potential of having contracted either of the two strains. But how shall one determine the difference between the two siblings? The ultimate goal in detecting COVID-19 strains is still by conducting a fundamental Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), by detecting the presence of the virus’s genetic material in cells collected from a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab-test. A clinical survey was conducted which reported that most people were likely to receive “false-negative” test results, which meant that at some parts people might receive results predicting that they are negative even if they aren’t in reality, and the vice versa (False Positive: predicted present even though not present in reality) was also observed to be true for certain cases. The most common viral symptoms are loss of smell accompanied by the loss of taste. Sometimes a person might not feel ill or not show any of the distinguishable symptoms, but still end up losing smell and/or taste thereby demarcating potential contraction of the virus. This symptom is one of the easiest and cheapest methods for early detection of COVID-19 and can be used for mass detection as well.
To answer the doubts running across the minds of each of us regarding the new strain and its accompanying doom, the results tests and genomic surveillance data have been collected along with “S-gene dropout” characteristics, which shall detect the possibility and tenure of the new strain. The result shall be paired with statistics and used to determine its transmission capacity and disclose its infected locality. People who are in the high alert zone and have been tested negative from one test should consider getting retested. Experts suggest that although there is no easy path to determine a specific immune response suitable for protection against the new strain, taking proper precautionary measures and having a healthy and well-functioning immune system will always go a long way.
Recent speak about the strain-
International Scenario:
Coming back to the latest updates, the analyst said that the Variant of Concern (VOC) is incredibly potent at spreading rapidly and may affect younger people readily. The reports suggest that the reproduction number which refers to the number of secondary infections caused by a case had been controlled but the ones concerning the Variant of Concern are still left out. Few of the research institutions like Public Health England, COG-UK consortium, and a few more have pointed out that till the 6th of December, The ‘R’ number (indicates the transimission efficacy of the strain) of the new variant was 1.74 times its predecessor’s. And that the transmission number is slowly but surely rising and making it more difficult to control the already existing pandemic, also increasing the urgency of an efficient vaccine for the latter as soon as possible.
The vaccine from Cambridge showed that only a single dose can work against the asymptomatic disease, with only a few people showing side effects like headache after two dosages.
National scenario:
The domestic vaccine of India made by Bharat Biotech– COVAXIN™ along with Covishield, which is based on the “Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine” being locally manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, gets approved for emergency use.
Also read: Main protease enzyme of SARS CoV-2 against COVID-19
Reference-
- Dasgupta Binayak, a Large-scale study in the UK finds new strain could be tougher to control; 2020; URL- https://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/uk-lockdown-didn-t-help-curb-new-strain- report/story-WzRAjAXySGZAaxSD8L1EyL_amp.html
- Adamec Marc, COVID research updates: A vaccine works quickly to ward off COID-19; 2020; URL- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00502-w
- Gallagher James. New Covid Strain: How worried should we be? 2020; URL- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55312505
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