(MENAFN- Bangladesh Monitor) The world is racing to contain and understand a fast-spreading and potentially more dangerous variant of the coronavirus. On Friday, a World Health Organization panel named the variant Omicron, after it was first detected in South Africa. It has already been found in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong. The news prompted a wave of new international travel restrictions.
The newly emerged variant of concern B.1.1.529 (Omicron) may not respond to monoclonal antibody therapy or cocktail treatment, experts fear.
According to Mercy Rophina, research scholar at IGIB, the new lineage carries a total of 53 variants precisely, including 32 spike protein variants.“Most of the observed variants are found to possess resistance against immunity and other functional implications. Six variants with spike receptor binding domain on G339D, S373P, G496S, Q498R and Y505H are found resistant to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) including etesevimab, bamlanivimab, casirivimab, imdevimab and their cocktails,” Rophina tweeted.
In a series of tweets on the new variant, Scaria, an expert in genome sciences, said at least one case of B.1.1.529 in Israel seems to have received a Covid-19 vaccine booster, suggesting the variant can cause vaccine breakthrough infections.
Scaria said three mutations in the S1/S2 furin cleavage site possibly suggests better cell entry (and may be transmissibility). He, however, added that properties of single mutations don't always add up when they occur in combination. Nevertheless, they give potential directions to explore.
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