More COVID-19 variants underway as experts downgrade IHU
Sopuruchi Onwuka
The world must brace for emergence of more variants of the dreaded SARS-COV-2, the pathogen that causes novel coronavirus disease also known as COVID-19.
In separate briefings on the new variants of the virus including the widespread Omicron and the less pronounced IHU, infectious diseases experts advised the world population including the vaccinated to take all precautions against sudden burst of new variants until the human race develops herd immunity against SARS-COV-2.
As of 14 January 2022, some 318,648,834 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,518,343 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the WHO COVID-19 Dashboard, world governments and institutions have administered a total of 9,283,076,642 vaccine doses on adults and children.
Africa has the lowest reported confirmed cases at 7,761,668; and also the lowest rate of vaccination but the figures were not available at the time of checks by The Oracle Today.
According to sundry reports across the globe the Omicron leads surge in new cases even among the vaccinated, raising concerns about possibility of double whammy from the IHU variant which emerged alongside Omicron from Africa. However, whereas the Omicron emerged in temperate region of South Africa, the IHU variant was spotted in a vaccinated victim arriving from Cameroon, close to Nigeria, in the hotter equatorial region of the continent.
Both the Omicron and IHU are reported to be products of rapid and numerous mutations, explaining their ability to infect vaccinated people.
Whereas IHU infects the already vaccinated, its effect has remained mild and less threatening than the Omicron which currently accounts for 95 percent of new infections across the globe; according to the Center for Disease Control of the United States.
While most of the world is focused on Omicron, the IHU variant, also known as B.1.640.2 which contains 46 mutations and 37 deletions from the original SARS-CoV-2, remains on the radar of infectious disease experts at the WHO and other agencies since it was detected in France from a vaccinated man returning from Cameroon.
The IHU variant, according to experts, also has 14 amino acid substitutions and nine deletions on the spike protein, which is what SARS-CoV-2 uses to latch onto human cells.
Similarly, the Omicron, which quickly spread around the world in a matter of weeks, has about 50 mutations; and the large number of mutations in the two variants raises fears that they might have similar rate of transmissibility and impact on human health.
According to the professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, Thomas Russo, M.D., the biggest concern is that the IHU variant has a large number of mutations which, according to him, can suggest that there may be resistance to immunity or vaccination.
There are also some concerns that the mutations “may change biologic properties in terms of allowing it to become more transmissible than other variant,” Dr. Russo says.
In dlousing further concerns about IHU, incident manager on COVID-19 at the WHO, Abdi Mahamud, said the variant has not spread as fast or caused as much damage as Omicron. He maintained that WHO continues to keep IHU on the radar.
Infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., said in a report IHU has proved that its similarities with Omicron do not translate to proportionate threat to human health.
By comparison, the Omicron variant was first detected on November 9, reported to the WHO on November 24, and named a variant of concern by the WHO on November 26, before spreading around the world.
Now, the Omicron variant is driving record numbers of COVID-19 cases around the world.
“Right now, any variant has to be able to outcompete Omicron,” Dr. Russo says. “IHU seems to be suppressed given how few cases have been reported.”
In preparing the world for possible emergence of new variants of COVID-19, experts warn that rapid mutation is a major feature in the life of viruses. They however stated that not all variants would pose serious threat to human health.
Dr. Adalja and Dr Russo stated separately that the world should expect more variants of COVID-19 and advised people to get vaccinated and observe all prevailing containment measures including social distancing, use of snout masks and improved hygiene.
According to Dr Russo, “Until we get the world vaccinated or some degree of immunity, the possibility of new variants emerging is real and we need to continue to track them.” He also warned that whereas IHU appears less malignant, the Omicron might not be the last variant of concern “we’ll have to deal with in this pandemic.”
He advised people to protect themselves from and also lower their risks of IHU, Omicron, and other COVID-19 variants by getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and getting booster shot when eligible.
