Scientists of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, are working with this virus. Divya Tej Sowpati, a scientist at this institute said that, "The defining mutation is N440K, a mutation that was known since last year and widely prevalent in Andhra Pradesh. When tested in cell culture studies, they appeared to spread quite quickly but that's not how it always plays out in the real world," he said in a phone conversation.
“N440K is slowly dying out and was fast being replaced by two other variants, B.1.1.7 and B.1.617 in almost all southern states including Kerala,” said Vinod Scaria, scientist at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi. The N440K had been associated with cases of reinfection in Delhi and possibly helped the coronavirus bind tighter to lung cells. B.1.1.7 and B.1.617 are the 'UK Variant' and the Indian variant, also known as the 'double mutant.'
“We are still to ascertain, which strain is in circulation right now, as samples have been sent to CCMB for analysis. But one thing is certain that the variant at present which is in circulation in Visakhapatnam is quite different from what we have seen during the first wave last year,” said District Collector V. Vinay Chand, who has been updated by senior doctors in the health department.
“Most essentially, none is spared, as we have observed that it is affecting the younger population in a big way, including those who are fitness freaks and have high immunity levels. It is also observed that cytokine storms are occurring faster, and some are responding to treatment and some are not,” said Dr. Sudhakar.
At the end of everything we have to follow the guidelines that have been made to stay away from the virus like use a good mask, maintain social distance, stay at home, use hand sanitizer and so on.
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