The first case of the so-called Indian variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Mexico. It concerns a man residing in San Luis Potosí who had been hospitalized for pneumonia, as confirmed this Sunday by the State Health Secretariat. The 40-year-old patient had been in contact with people coming from the United States and is in isolation. This is the first infection in the country of the B.1.617 variant, which has put all governments on high alert due to the health emergency it has caused in India.
"The case has been fully confirmed by federal authorities and the individual was isolated at the beginning of the month," stated Miguel Ángel Lutzow Steiner, the entity's Secretary of Health. "The variant's effect on the efficacy of treatments and antibodies is being investigated, although it is still under study and could be moderate and not significant," the doctor noted. The variant was identified on Saturday by the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (InDRE) as part of the genomic surveillance program for the epidemic. "This should not surprise us in any way. This virus mutates, it has a great capacity for mutation and we must strengthen preventive measures. It's not about alarming people," said Lutzow, who insisted on not letting down our guard.
This week, the skies of some large Indian cities were filled with smoke from mass cremations of COVID victims. The Asian country, with 1.366 billion inhabitants, surpassed the world record for infections on Monday with more than 350,000 cases in a single day. Daily deaths exceed 2,000. The situation is critical: hospitals, especially in the capital, New Delhi, are overwhelmed, there is not enough oxygen to treat all patients who need it, nor enough diagnostic tests to get an accurate idea of how many cases there really are.
Meanwhile, governments and scientists worldwide are looking with concern at the variant circulating in the country with three mutations that make it potentially more infectious. Almost everything about this new version is still unknown, but the World Health Organization has warned that it could be more contagious and partially evade vaccines. Even so, for now, it has only been classified as a "variant of interest" and not a "variant of concern," a list that does include versions from the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, and California, for which there is evidence of greater virulence.
The Indian variant, first identified in the autumn of last year, roughly at the same time as the UK variant, has been reported in about twenty countries, including France, the United States, and Singapore. Three sub-variants are already known, one of which lacks one of the most concerning mutations. Some experts question its high transmissibility given that it has been circulating for so long. For now, the Covaxin vaccine, developed in India from inactivated viruses and approved since the beginning of the year, neutralizes the new variant.
Source: https://elpais.com/mexico/2021-05-02/detectado-en-san- luis-potosi-el-primer-caso-de-la-variante-india-de-covid-19-en-mexico.html
