UK Warns Of Lambda Variant Detected In 30 Countries, All You Need To Know

Lambda variant was first reported from Peru, in December 2020. But hasn't been reported in India yet.

New Delhi: The UK Health Ministry sounding alarm bells recently announced that the Lambda Covid-19 strain is likely more dangerous than the 'Delta' variant. The ministry further stated that the variant has been detected in 30 countries in the past 4 weeks.

On Monday, the Health Ministry tweeted, "The Lambda strain was reported to have originated from Peru, the country with the highest mortality rate in the world," reported The Star.

It further reported that the Health Ministry had linked the report by the Australian news portal news.com.au saying the Lambda strain had been detected in the United Kingdom. According to the portal, six cases of the Lambda strain have been detected in the UK to date.

However, the researchers are worried that this variant may be "more infectious than the Delta variant", The Star reported.

Lambda accounts for nearly 82 percent of the coronavirus case samples reported during May and June in Peru, Euro News reported citing the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Hasn't been reported in India yet

While speaking to ANI, Dr Pragya Yadav, head of the National Institute of Virology's Maximum Containment Facility, "Lambda variant has been detected in 30 countries. Lambda variant was first reported from Peru, in December 2020. The number of cases reported from this variant is increasing in different countries, indicating it to be highly transmissible. A recent study revealed that the Lambda variant is susceptible to mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies and convalescent serum was able to neutralize the lambda variant". 

Lambda variant behaviour

PAHO's Regional Advisor on emerging viral diseases, Jairo Mendez, said on 30 June it had been detected in eight countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, "but sporadically in most countries". While it is clearly the dominant strain in Peru, in Chile, it accounts for more than 31 percent of the samples from May and June, Euro News reported. Mendez further stated that there was not yet clear evidence it was a more transmissible virus.

This variant has come at a time when Europe is battling the Delta variant which was first detected in India.

According to the WHO, the Lambda variant has at least seven significant mutations in the spike protein (the Delta variant has three) which could have a range of implications, including the possibility of increased transmissibility or enhanced resistance to antibodies, created either through natural infection or vaccination. Until recently, the Lambda variant was largely concentrated in a handful of South American countries, including Ecuador and Argentina.

The Lambda variant's behavior hasn't been understood well so far, but a recent study carried out by research in Chile found that mutations present in the spike protein of the Lambda variant of interest confer increased infectivity and immune escape from neutralizing antibodies triggered by CoronaVac, the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. Even though the study was limited to just one vaccine, researchers said that massive vaccination drives that are currently underway must also be accompanied by strict genomic surveillance.

It will allow the "identification of new isolates carrying spike mutations and immunology studies aimed to determine the impact of these mutations in immune escape and vaccine breakthrough," the study said.

“There is currently limited evidence on the full extent of the impact associated with these genomic changes, and further robust studies into the phenotype impacts are needed to better understand the impact on countermeasures and to control the spread,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Further studies are also required to validate the continued effectiveness of vaccines.”