- Although there is no evidence that the Mu strain of the coronavirus will surpass the Delta variant, the EU stated that the Mu virus may be a cause for concern.
- The Mu variant was first discovered in Colombia in January.
- Most mutations have little effect, but some mutations affect the characteristics of the virus, including how easy it is for them to spread.
The European Medicines Agency said on Thursday that a variant of the coronavirus called “Mu” may be worrying, although there is no data yet that it will surpass the dominant Delta strain.
Mu was first discovered in Colombia in January, scientifically known as B.1.621, and was classified as an “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization earlier this month.
Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy at EMA, told reporters that although EMA is mainly focused on the highly disseminated Delta variant, it “is also studying other variants that may be spreading, such as the Lambda variant (found in Peru) and the recent Mu variant.” Press conference.
Mu may be more worrying, as it may show an increase in potential immune escape.
Cavaleri added that the Amsterdam-based regulatory agency inspects medicines for 27 EU countries and will discuss with vaccine developers the effectiveness of current vaccines against Mu variants.
Read | Mu: Everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus variant you are interested in
“However, I have to say that we don’t have data yet to show that the Mu variant has spread so much, and whether it has a chance to surpass the Delta variant to become a dominant strain.”
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, will mutate over time. Most mutations have little effect, but some mutations affect the characteristics of viruses, including how easily they spread, the severity of the diseases they cause, and their resistance to vaccines.
The WHO has currently identified four worrying variants of Covid-19, including Alpha, which exists in 193 countries, and Delta, which exists in 170 countries.
Five variants including Mu will be monitored.
After being discovered in Colombia, Mu has also been reported in other South American countries and Europe.
The WHO stated that among the sorted cases, its global prevalence has fallen below 0.1%. However, in Colombia, this proportion is 39%.
