The “double mutant” virus that scientists had flagged in March 2021 as having a bearing on the spread of the pandemic in India, has a formal scientific classification: B.1.617.
- It contains two key mutations, which scientists call E484Q and L452R, that have been found separately in other variants but not together in a single strain. The variant is common in India enable it to become more infectious and evade antibodies.
- Double mutation happens when two mutated variants of a virus come together to form a third variant
- If the mutation makes the virus more resistant to antibodies, that could reduce the effectiveness of both vaccines as well as antibody treatments that have become a critical tool for doctors in fighting Covid-19.
- Though these mutations have individually been found in several other coronavirus variants, the presence of both mutations together were first found in some coronavirus genomes from India.
When a virus replicates or makes copies of itself, it sometimes changes a little bit, which is normal for a virus. These changes are called “mutations”. A virus with one or more new mutations is referred to as a “variant” of the original virus. (WHO)
(The Hindu and others)
