California Hit by the Indian Double Mutant Variant

As California seemed to be on the verge of turning into the Covid-19 corner, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab confirmed a case of an emerging variant that originated in India. Lisa Kim, Senior Manager of Media Relations for Stanford Health Care, “The Clinical Virology Lab at Stanford Health Care identified and confirmed the newly described ‘India’ variant last week. This variant has the L452R mutation found in the CA variant, as well as another significant spike mutation, E484Q. This same position is mutated to a different amino acid (K) in both the South Africa and Brazil (P.1 and P.2) variants.”

In colloquial terms, the India variant of mutation is like a critical alteration first discovered in the so-called Brazil and South Africa variants. In the first variant detected in California, the other mutation was also found. It was by far the state’s most widely spread strain of the virus. The development is causing concern because it combines the worrisome mutations from separate.

An infectious disease expert at UCSF, Peter Chin-Hong, told the Chronicle that the Indian variant contains the two mutations in the same virus for the first time. Since the affected domain is known to be a part of the virus, it is known to enter the body.

Kim cautions that it is unknown if the variant is more infectious or is resistant to vaccine antibodies. Officials were concerned regarding the spread of the U.K. variant than the double mutant one. The new, unusual strain news adds an extra dimension to rising concerns about California‘s new variants.