What do we know about the Mu variant? Is he immune to the vaccine? [WE EXPLAIN]

The Mu variant is now under close scrutiny by the World Health Organization. It was discovered in January, but only now has received a letter of the Greek alphabet, previously known as “Colombian” and was marked with the symbol B.1.621. What do we know about him?

1. Another variant – recently marked with the Greek letter Mu – of the coronavirus has been targeted by the World Health Organization
2. It contains a number of mutations that also occur in the most dangerous variants – Alpha, Beta and Delta
3. This fact worries WHO as it could mean Mu is more contagious and more resistant to vaccines
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Mu variant – where is it?

A variant of Mu coronavirus, designated B.1.621, was detected in Colombia in January (hence it was originally referred to as “Colombian”). Currently, it is responsible for about 40 percent. cases. It is also becoming more common in Chile and Ecuador. Cases are increasing in the United States, particularly in Florida, as well as in Mexico and Spain.

Mu has been under WHO surveillance since March. In June, he appeared in Europe. So far, infections have been detected in 39 countries around the world, including around 20 in Europe. According to the GISAID database, 6 cases were also found in Poland, but none in the last month.

Mu variant and vaccines

It is too early for clear information about its increased infectivity or immunity to vaccines, but according to the World Health Organization there is such a risk. “The Mu variant has a set of mutations that may indicate it has potential immune escape capabilities,” reads the WHO statement.

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“Preliminary data presented to the Working Group on Virus Evolution indicate a reduction in the neutralizing capacity of the recovery sera and the sera of the vaccinated persons. These capabilities are similar to those seen in the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further research, ‘reports the WHO.

The Mu variant includes, among others mutations R346K, E484K, N501Y, D614G and P681H. It is the E484K mutation (also present in Beta and Gamma strains) that is responsible for the ability to “escape” the vaccine. In turn, the N501Y mutation (also occurs in variants Alpha, Beta and Gamma) makes the virus more infectious. The last two of the mentioned mutations also occur in the Delta variant.

This set of mutations in Mu was what led the WHO to consider it “worth of interest”

Variant of Mu. Seven victims in Belgium

In early August, seven seniors in Belgium were infected with the Mu variant (at that time he had not yet assigned this letter), otherwise B1.621 or “Colombian”. The incident took place in a nursing home in the city of Zaventem near Brussels. “The deceased people were between 80 and 90 years old, some of them were in poor physical condition,” said Marc Van Ranst, a virologist at the University of Leuven who conducted the research in a nursing home. They were all fully vaccinated.

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It is not known, however, whether the residents of the nursing home actually died due to COVID-19 or as a result of other respiratory diseases.

In total, 1.621 residents and a few staff members were infected with variant B21 in the nursing home. As Ranst revealed, the workers experienced only mild symptoms.

The Mu variant was then responsible for 1 percent. all COVID-19 cases in Belgium. In the past four weeks, however, only a few new cases have been identified.

COVID-19. The most dangerous variants

The Mu strain has been declared “worthy of interest” by the World Health Organization (VOI, Variants of Interest). They also belong to this group Eta (B.1.525), Iota (B.1.526, previously known as New York City), Kappa (B.1.617.1, Indian) i Lambda (C.37, Peruvian). These variants have mutations that affect, inter alia, the ease of transmission of the pathogen, the severity of the disease, or the ability to avoid vaccines.

Variants have dropped out of the list in recent weeks Epsilon (B.1.427/B.1.429, Californian) i Theta (P.3, Filipino).

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The so-called alarm variants (Variants of Concern, VOC). There are four such strains on the list – Alfa (B.1.1.7, formerly UK) Beta (B.1.351, formerly South African), Gamma (P1, Brazilian) and the currently dominant variant in the world Delta (B.1.617.2, Indian).

These variants feature increased transmission, a greater risk of severe COVID-19 cases, elimination of vaccines and therapies, and “increasing incidence coupled with spikes in infection” making it a great threat to global public health.

Also read:

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