Concern about Indian double mutants - now first case discovered in Switzerland

In Switzerland, an infection with the Indian coronavirus mutation B.1.617 has been detected for the first time.

Geneva - In India, a corona variant dominates the infection process: B.1.617.

The situation on the subcontinent is devastating.

The corona variant was first found in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is spreading rapidly there, as the Robert Koch Institute * (RKI) announced in its current report on virus variants of Sars-CoV2 in Germany.

B.1.617 therefore also circulates in other Indian states.

In Great Britain and also in Germany isolated cases have been detected.

B. 1.617: Indian corona mutation now also in Switzerland

Now there is the first corona case with the mutation B.1.617 in Switzerland: As the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) reports via Twitter, the mutation was detected in a traveler.

The passenger traveled to Switzerland via a European airport.

Initially there was confusion about the origin of the person.

In the meantime, the authority made it clear that the passenger had flown to Switzerland via a transit airport.

The first case was proven at the end of March, according to

20min.ch.

The BAG is now looking into putting India on the quarantine list.

According to the RKI, 21 corona cases with the Indian variant B.1.617 have been detected in Germany so far, in Great Britain initially 77.

Is the Indian corona mutation B.1.617 dangerous?

The Indian corona mutation B.1.617 has so far been under observation in Germany, reports the RKI.

It therefore only belongs to the so-called "Variants of Interest" VOI for short.

In contrast to others, such as the British corona mutation B.1.117 *.

This is one of the so-called worrying Corona variants - VOC (Variants of Concern).

According to the WHO, a variant is considered "worrying" if it is known that, among other things, it spreads more easily, causes more serious diseases and bypasses the immune system.

The Indian corona mutation is also known as the "double variant" because there are two special mutations in the so-called spike protein. It is believed that one of these mutations undermines the antibody response somewhat, so that antibodies are not as good at preventing the virus from entering the cell. On the other hand, there is also evidence that the immune system does not react to the virus with T cells as expected.

The new Corona double mutant in India is not the only cause of the extremely high number of infections there, explained RKI Vice Lars Schaade at a press conference on the Corona situation in Berlin on Friday. It has also not yet been conclusively clarified whether it is an immune escape variant. There is no lockdown in India and major events are taking place, explained Schaade. The mutation is under observation, but he does not yet classify it as "worrying". 

India will be on the list of virus variant areas in Germany from Monday (April 26). Then there is an extensive entry ban for people who have previously stayed in India - people with German citizenship or German main residence are excluded. But you have to be in a 14-day quarantine.

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