A Stanford team of researchers identified the tribe from India.
The Stanford physician who runs the lab that just identified that “double mutant” variant, Dr. Benjamin Pinsky, joined ABC7’s show “Getting Answers.”
First describe when and how your team arrived at this specific species?
“We screen all positives coming in through the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory for mutations associated with variants of concern,” said Dr. Pinsky. “So we initially identified this through that process, through R2PCR, similar to what we do for standard diagnoses of COVID-19. And so far we’ve sequenced one case and confirmed that it is, in fact, one of these double-mutant variants. was recently identified from India. “
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Why is this variant called a double mutant?
“It has two fairly well-described mutations,” said Dr. Pinsky. In the spike protein of the virus, this includes the L452R mutation, which is found in the California variant, and then it has a mutation at a different position, E484, which is found in the variant in South Africa and Brazil. “
Is it more dangerous? More transferable?
“We don’t quite know that yet, although these mutations I am talking about have been associated with increased transmissibility,” said Dr. Pinsky. “In India, this new variant is responsible for 15 to 20% of cases in a particular state.”
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Do you know if the current vaccines will be effective against it?
“I don’t think we know if the vaccines will be any less effective against this variant,” said Dr. Pinsky. “We do have some information on experiments with the individual mutations that suggest that antibodies are less able to neutralize this variant in India.”
Despite uncertainty about the consequences of these new variants, Dr. Pinsky still urges the public to get vaccinated.
“It is important to note that the vaccines are very effective in preventing serious diseases, so everyone should continue to be vaccinated as soon as possible,” Pinsky said.
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