The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has dismissed reports that N440K variant of the SARS-CoV-2 was responsible for the second wave of coronavirus that has led to a record surge in infections and death in India.
The N440K, which had wreaked havoc in Southern India in 2020, was fading away, the Hyderabad-based life sciences facility said on May 5. Divya Tej Sowpati, a scientist at the CCMB, tweeted: “The N440K variant of SARS-CoV-2 is diminishing and is likely to disappear soon.”
Though N440K was of particular concern in South India during and after the coronavirus first wave, at present, it was being replaced by the B1617 and B117 variants, Sowpati said.
The prevalence of the N440K coronavirus variant was very low in Andhra Pradesh. “It is there in less than five percent of the samples. It is incorrect to say it is causing havoc. The B1617 variant is dominating now in most parts of the country,” the scientist said.
The CCMB researcher said Maharashtra, the worst affected state in India, there was an increase in the prevalence of the B1617 variant in February than in March 2021, while was a drop in the N440K strain.
With PTI inputs
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