According to the Global Times, the new crown epidemic in India has become increasingly severe, with the number of confirmed cases continuing to exceed 300,000 in a single day. When summing up the reasons for the worsening of the epidemic in India, the outside world not only mentioned the Indian government's ineffective control over the gathering of people, but also mentioned the local mutated new crown virus. India's "Financial Express" stated on the 26th that in addition to the double mutant virus that caused the current outbreak in India, there are also triple mutant viruses in many parts of India. The outside world is worried that if the epidemic in India is not controlled, will there be more mutated viruses?
According to reports, the B.1.617 variant strain detected in India in October 2020 accounts for more than 70% of the newly confirmed cases in India and has spread to more than 20 countries. It carries two kinds of mutations at the same time, which may be more transmissible and pathogenic. What is even more worrying is that there are currently triple mutant viruses.
However, industry experts generally believe that the mutated virus is not the main reason for the out-of-control epidemic in India. Professor Yang Zhanqiu of the Institute of Virology of Wuhan University School of Medicine told the Global Times reporter on the 27th that unless it can be proved that the surge in epidemics in different parts of India is caused by the same mutant virus, and the transmission and pathogenicity of the mutant virus are very high. Only strong, can we draw this conclusion. However, there is currently no sufficient evidence to prove this. Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also said in an interview with the media, what is the specific relationship between the mutant virus and this wave of epidemics in India, and what is the impact? It is still being evaluated. Zhang Wenhong, director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, also believes that the double mutations in the virus strains circulating in India are not the reason for the complete out-of-control of the epidemic.
However, Yang Zhanqiu warned that after the virus mutates, the possibility that the existing vaccines will become ineffective or weaken is also entirely possible. He said that the current Indian mutant virus has mutations at multiple sites. If the variation range of the mutant virus is small, it will not affect the vaccine efficacy for the time being, but with the development of time, if a mutant virus with a large variation range appears, Even if it develops into a new virus subtype, the existing vaccine may not be effective.
He said that the domestically produced new crown vaccines currently used in my country are mainly traditional inactivated vaccines. In order to respond more effectively to the current global epidemic situation, it is necessary for us to carry out recombinant vaccines or genetic engineering for different types of viruses or mutant viruses in different regions of the world. Vaccine research, like "building blocks", enables our vaccines to deal with different types of virus combinations.
Even from the perspective of preventing the emergence of more mutated viruses, extinguishing the epidemic in India as soon as possible is also of global interest. Yang Zhanqiu said that for India, the most urgent task is to cut off the transmission between people and to implement isolation measures. He believes that the current situation facing India must be concentrated on the national strength to deal with it. If India cannot do so, all countries should provide India with strong material assistance.
Yang Zhanqiu also said that if the epidemic in India continues, the possibility of spreading to China also exists, but "China cannot have an outbreak similar to India" because China has good management and monitoring measures.
