Scientists, in their latest studies, have suggested that the newly detected COVID-19 variant has more mutations than Omicron.
Amid the rising cases of COVID-19 across the world once again, scientists have detected a new COVID-19 variant, soon after the emergence of Omicron. The new COVID-19 variant has been dubbed IHU, and most likely originated from Cameroon.
The new COVID-19 variant was initially detected in France earlier today, and scientists have said that it is too early to predict the exact infection rate and symptoms of the infections. Researchers are also working on determining whether vaccines can provide protection against this variant.
Known as 'IHU', the B.1.640.2 variant has been reported by researchers at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection in at least 12 cases and has been linked to travel to African country Cameroon. Though not much is known about IHU, it is speculated that it has more mutations than the Omicron variant.
The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted on the preprint repository MedRxiv on December 29, revealed that IHU has 46 mutations and 37 deletions resulting in 30 amino acid substitutions and 12 deletions.
The new variant was reported by the researchers at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection. As per PTI reports, the authors of the study said, “The mutation set and phylogenetic position of the genomes obtained here indicate based on our previous definition a new variant we named IHU.”
The researchers further added, “These data are another example of the unpredictability of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and of their introduction in a given geographical area from abroad.”
Though a few cases of the new variant have been reported in France, IHU has not been spotted in other countries or labelled a variant under investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO). Though not much is known about IHU, scientists suggest that its high number of mutations might make it more infectious than Omicron.
According to recent studies, the Omicron variant is much more transmissible than the Delta variant, which caused the deadly second wave of the pandemic. Till now, the Omicron variant has been detected in over 90 countries.
(With PTI inputs)
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