"IHU" is coming! New variants detected in France, WHO: listed as a new coronavirus variant under observation

Per Editor: Li Zedong

According to CCTV News, on January 5, local time, a number of French media reported that on December 9 last year, the French Marseille Mediterranean Infectious Disease Medical and Teaching Institute said that a new variant of the new coronavirus was found, the strain number is B.1.640.2, also known as the "IHU" strain. The strain contained 46 mutation points and 37 deletions.

The strain was first identified in a patient returning to France from the Congo.

So far, the Mediterranean Institute of Infectious Diseases Medical and Teaching Research in Marseille has found a total of 12 cases of infection with this strain. Due to the small size of the sample, it is currently difficult to assess its infectivity and risk. The World Health Organization has listed the strain as a NEW CORONAVIRUS variant under observation.

According to Red Star News, the mutation points of the IHU strain include two mutations that have been found in Omiquerong – N501Y and E484K. In addition, there are 9 deletions in viral spike proteins, and most of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available globally are against the virus's spike protein to establish a defense mechanism, and changes in spike proteins may affect the virus's ability to infect human cells.

Image source: Visual China VCG111363894731

The first person to be infected with the IHU strain was reportedly a man living in southeastern France who had previously been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Two days after traveling home from Cameroon in mid-November 2021, he began to experience mild respiratory symptoms. The next day, the man underwent a COVID-19 test and a nasopharyngeal sample was positive. The researchers said the tests showed an "atypical" combination of spike-like genomic mutations that did not match the pattern of Delta, the dominant strain of the time.

After careful study, in early December last year, the researchers confirmed that this was a new mutant strain, isolating B.1.640.2 from the evolutionary branch B.1.640. Since then, the strain has spread on a small scale in the same area, with at least 11 people testing positive for the B.1.640.2 variant.

B.1.640 was discovered in September 2021 with an unprecedented mutation in its spike protein and was subsequently included in the surveillance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), but has not been elevated to a higher level of concern.

However, the researchers say it's unclear whether this B.1.640.2 variant will cause as much trouble as the Delta and Omilon variants. As we all know, the new crown virus has been constantly mutating, and many new variants have emerged in the past two years, but only a very small number of new strains have dominated.

Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding tweeted that new variants keep popping up, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be more dangerous. As far as the timeline is concerned, the IHU variant appears almost the same time as the Omilon, and may even predate the Omilon, so there is no need to worry too much.

The researchers also said in the paper that in terms of infection and vaccine protection, "it is too early to guess how different the variant will exhibit infectiousness and immune escape." But at the same time, it is pointed out that the emergence of this variant is the latest example of the unpredictable mutation and cross-border spread of the new crown virus. As the virus continues to spread and multiply, it will continue to mutate, and new mutated strains will continue to appear.

Daily Economic News comprehensive CCTV news, Red Star News reports

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