WHO Worry About MU Variant (B.1.621) Immune To Vaccines
The World Health Organization (WHO) is wary of the mutation of the Corona virus (Covid-19) variant Mu or B.1.621 which is feared to be vaccine-resistant. On the other hand, currently the Delta variant or B.1.617.2 is reported to dominate the world's infection cases.
Mu is the fifth variant of Covid-19 monitored by WHO since last March. Although more research is needed, the WHO warns this variant has a number of mutations that suggest it could be more resistant to vaccines.
"The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that exhibit potential immune evasion properties," the WHO said in a statement some time ago as quoted in The Washington Post newspaper report.
Preliminary data suggest there is a decrease in vaccine effectiveness, similar to that seen for the Beta variant. WHO said it would monitor the spread of the Mu variant in South America, along with the Delta variant.
21 Point Mutations In Variant Mu
The MU variant carried at least 21 point mutations in the genetic material of SARS-CoV-1, nine of which were in the viral spike protein. The key mutations of the Mu variant include N501Y such as the Alpha variant, E484K such as the Beta variant, and P681H such as the Delta variant.
To date, the spread of the Mu variant among Covid-19 cases in the world is below 0.1 percent. An expert in infectious diseases and genomics at the University of San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, Prof. Paúl Cárdenas said the public need not worry about the development of the Mu variant. The Mu variant has a relatively low risk of spreading.
Until now, WHO also noted that the rate of spread has not increased soaring. The Mu variant was first detected in Colombia early last year and has now spread to 40 countries. This variant has spread to the United States, parts of Europe and South America, and Japan.
The Difference Between Delta and Mu . Covid-19
Unlike the Covid-19 MU variant, the Delta variant of Covid-19 has the ability to infect easily and quickly. The variant was first detected in India and spread to more than 60 countries, including Indonesia.
Bhakti Hansoti, professor of emergency medicine and international health at Johns Hopkins University, said Delta variant infections in India and the US showed the same symptoms as the early Sars-CoV-2 virus. However, the symptoms that appear due to infection with the Delta variant tend to be more severe.
Hansoti said doctors found an increased likelihood of hearing loss, severe stomach pain and nausea in patients infected with the Covid-19 Delta variant. In most cases, patients with Delta variant infection usually require hospitalization and require more treatment and oxygen supply, in addition to experiencing complications.
Varian Mu Covid-19 Spreads Rapidly in America
Coronavirus cases in the United States have crossed the 40 million mark since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University. The pressure faced will be even greater as the Mu variant spreads throughout the land. The Maryland-based university noted that there were 40,096,188 cases and 649,438 deaths from Covid-19 in the US as of September 7, 2021.
The US is grappling with the Delta variant of the coronavirus which has fueled most of the cases in recent weeks and the new Mu variant is now spreading across the US. According to media outlets, the new variant, which originally appeared in Colombia in January, has been found in 49 US states.
Last week the WHO's World Health Organization said it was monitoring the Mu variant which had been added to the WHO's Variants of Interest (VoI) list at the end of August. Leading US infectious disease expert Dr. Antony Fauci said the Mu variant exhibited mutations that "indicate that it may be depriving the body of protection from certain antibodies."
According to Fauci, it was "not a direct threat". The White House announced that President Joe Biden on Thursday, September 8, 2021, will deliver a speech about his strategic plan to stop transmission of the Delta variant and ramp up Covid-19 vaccinations.
So far, more than half of the US population or nearly 176 million people have been injected with the Covid-19 vaccine as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus.
EMA: Covid-19 MU variant is more worrying than Delta and Lambda
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Thursday (9/9) that the Mu variant coronavirus could be more of a concern, although there is no data yet to suggest it will overtake the dominant Delta strain. Mu, which was first identified in Colombia in January 2021 and scientifically known as B.1,621, was classified earlier this month as a variant of interest (VoI) by the World Health Organization (WHO).
EMA, while primarily focusing on the highly contagious Delta variant, "is also looking for other variants that might spread, such as Lambda (identified in Peru) and more recently Mu," said EMA's Head of Vaccine Strategy Marco Cavaleri.
"Mu is potentially more worrisome because of the immune-boosting potential that escapes it may exhibit," he told a news conference, as quoted by Channel News Asia. The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based regulator, which examines drugs for the 27 EU member states, will discuss with vaccine developers about their current effectiveness in dealing with the Mu variant, Cavaleri said.
"However, I have to say, we don't yet have data that would show that the Mu variant spreads as much as the Delta variant, and whether it will have any chance of overtaking the Delta variant as the dominant strain," he said. All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, mutate from time to time.
Most mutations have little or no effect, but some can affect the nature of viruses including how easily they spread, the severity of the disease they cause, and their resistance to vaccines.
WHO currently identifies four variants of COVID-19 that fall into the category of variant of concern (VoC), including Alpha in 193 countries and Delta in 170 countries. Five variants, including Mu, are in the VoI category.
Once detected in Colombia, Mu has been reported in other South American countries and Europe. The WHO stated that the global prevalence of the MU variant of Covid-19 had decreased to below 0.1% among successive cases. In Colombia, however, the prevalence is 39%.