UK strain to blame for surge in Punjab: Survey

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 25

Contrary to the national trend, the UK variant is growing fast and has become the most dominant strain in Punjab, the state government has confirmed.

B.1.617 variant in just 10% samples

• B.1.617, the variant first detected in India, which has become the most dominant in the country and accounted for 65% of the total variants of concern (VoCs), has been detected in only 10.5% samples in the state
• However, the UK variant (B.1.1.7) accounts for 84.6% of all VoCs found in the state during the genome sequencing of 965 samples since January

This variant (B.1.1.7) accounts for 84.6 per cent of all variants of concern (VoCs) found in the state during the genome sequencing of 965 samples since January, the data compiled by the Health and Family Welfare Department has revealed.

However, B.1.617 (the variant first detected in India), which has become the most dominant in the country, accounting for 65 per cent of the total VoCs found in India so far and was also spreading rapidly in several other countries as well, was detected in only 10.5 per cent samples.

The official analysis of the VoCs, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that a total of 965 VoCs were found by the researchers during the whole genome sequencing of the samples collected in the state from January to May.

Of those, 816 were that of the UK variant, 101 of B.1.617, four B.1 (0.4 per cent), two South African variant B.1.351 (0.2 per cent), one each of Nigerian variant B.1.525 and B.1.36 (0.1 per cent each), and 40 other mutations, which accounted for 4.1 per cent of the total VoCs detected during the last less than five months.

The month-wise break-up of the VoCs found in the state suggested that a maximum of 672 VoCs, which accounted for 95.9 per cent, were found in the total of 701 samples genome sequenced in the state in March, followed by 94.2 per cent VoCs in 195 of the total 207 samples in April, 16 per cent VoCs in 16 of the total 100 samples in February, and single variant of concern was detected in the total of four samples processed in the state in January.

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