NEW DELHI: The Center urged states to provide positive samples of Covid-19 sent for genome sequencing they are taken at random and sent with their clinical profile because failure to do so prevents a correct assessment of whether a spread of the infection is related to a mutation.
The concern of the Center came from different districts, especially in Maharashtra, were found sending samples taken in series and not randomly, often resulting in the same profile from a certain group, officials said, stressing that this presents obstacles in analyzing whether there is a spread due to a significant mutation.
Covid 19 virus has moved and various mutations have been found in many countries as well as in India and these include the UK (17 mutations), Brazil (17 mutations) and South Africa (12 mutations). As of Thursday, 13,614 whole genome sequencing samples had been processed at the 10 designated laboratories. Of these, 1,189 samples were tested positive for variants of concern for SARS VOC-2 in India. This includes 1,109 samples with UK variants; 79 samples with the South African version and a sample with the Brazil version. These variants have a higher transmissibility.
In addition, the double mutation (two mutations) is another variant and has been found in several countries such as Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, UK and the USA. However, the higher transmissibility of this variant is not yet established. To date, greater transmissibility has been established in the British, South African and Brazilian versions.
While many states have expressed concern that the increase in cases is due to mutations, the Indian consortium SARS-CoV-2 Genomics (INSACOG) – a network of 10 laboratories set up to continuously monitor the genomic changes of the virus in India – is yet to arrive. to a conclusion.
“Genome sequencing is not so easy and takes time to study a trend. To do this, we must first eliminate the abnormalities and also study the clinical profiles. Some mutations are normal, but a variant is formed with multiple mutations, “said an official.