- The Lambda variant is one of the latest variants that has attracted the attention of the public health community.
- A preprint study showed that mutations in this variant can help it evade antibodies and spread quickly.
- A researcher said that it is not completely clear: Lambda cases are decreasing in some places and increasing in others.
- For more stories, please visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
The coronavirus has mutated into Several different variantsSome are more worrying than others.
Lambda is the latest coronavirus variant that has attracted attention.It was first discovered in Peru last year, And has spread to other countries in South America and around the world.
The World Health Organization declared Lambda an “variant of interest” on June 15, partly because of its abnormal and potentially dangerous mutation. This means that it is suspected of being extra contagious or dangerous. (Delta variants also start at that level, and are then promoted to “The variant of attention.”)
Lambda variants and antibodies
According to a recent laboratory study summarized in a report, three mutations in the viral spike protein may enable Lambda variants to resist vaccine-induced antibodies Preprinted paper It has not been peer reviewed by Japanese researchers.
In the paper, the researchers wrote that Lambda variants may pose a threat to human society. “Since the Lambda variant is relatively resistant to vaccine-induced antisera (serum containing antibodies against specific antigens), this variant has the potential to cause breakthrough infections,” the authors wrote.
According to the study, two other mutations make this variant highly infectious.
However, Dr. Ricardo Soto Rifo, a researcher at the University of Chile Santiago, who is working on the Lambda variant, told BBC’s Health Check Podcast This is something that needs to be monitored, but there is no panic yet.
Lambda is not unified
Soto Rifo said that in Chile three months ago, half of the sequenced cases were Lambda variants, but this has dropped to about 23%. However, in Peru, Lambda variants are increasingly dominant and now account for 80% of sequenced cases.
“So we can’t say what will happen in other countries,” Soto River said.
“We have to worry because it has a pattern related to mutations [with] Immune escape, but we still have no evidence of increased transmission, we have no evidence of increased disease severity, and we have no evidence that Lambda variants are the cause of vaccine immune escape,” Soto Rifo said.
Research is needed in South America to help the rest of the world understand this variant
As of August 4, At least 1,053 cases of Lambda infection in the U.S., 12 of which were recorded in the past 4 weeks. However, the Lambda variant has not been listed along with other “notable” variants such as Delta. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Soto Rifo said that South American countries need funding and resources to sequence and track mutations. If Lambda is indeed highly transmissible, it could cause a surge in cases, as seen in the Delta variants that spread globally.More cases mean more Breakthrough infection.
However, there is currently no evidence that Lambda will surpass Delta, the most widely spread variant to date.
Nathaniel Landau, a microbiologist at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said: “I think there is no reason to worry more than before we knew about this mutation.” New York Times. “There is no reason to think that this is now worse than Delta Air Lines.”
