More Sequencing Needed To Determine "Double Mutant" Strain's Spread: Scientists

Genome sequencing with representative samples from all states seeing a COVID-19 surge is necessary before any conclusion can be drawn, experts said.

A global mutation tracker on Friday suggested the "double mutant'' coronavirus, first identified in Maharashtra, has a cumulative prevalence of 10 per cent in India, a finding that some scientists here said is based on insufficient data and needs more research. Genome sequencing with representative samples from all states seeing a COVID-19 surge is necessary before any conclusion can be drawn, experts said after a tracker by US-based Scripps Research suggested the B.1.617 lineage, also called a double mutant, has the highest cumulative prevalence of all mutant variants analysed in India. Though the 'double mutant' has drawn attention, and some degree of panic, it is difficult to say if it is the most common or abundant variant or even if it is responsible for the raging second Covid wave in India, said Anurag Agrawal, director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, and virologist Upasana Ray. The report is an incomplete representation of Indian data and different areas in the country have different dominant variants, they said.