Though not as virulent as the Delta variant, the new Mu variant, now considered by the World Health Organization as a ‘variant of interest’ Mu has swept through 43 countries, including the United States. Studies are being done on whether it is vaccine evasive.
As the country ponders on completely opening its doors to tourists because of continuously declining cases of infections, people must be cautious enough to wear masks and still practice social distancing aside from taking the full two doses and one booster of COVID 19 vaccines to protect themselves from new variants like the Mu, now labelled as a ‘variant of interest’ by the World Health Organization.
Mu’s first known appearance in Hongkong was caught during hotel quarantine.
Officials believed risk level was low enough it did not warrant alerting the public, saying Delta variant remains the biggest threat
But this new coronavirus variant could be more vaccine resistant. It was detected over the summer by Hong Kong authorities after first being found in South America.
Local health officials say the city has imposed stringent measures, including testing, contact tracing and inbound restrictions, to prevent the spread of variants.
The South China Morning post said Mu, also known as B. 1.621, was first found in Colombia in January, and the World Health Organization (WHO) added it to its list of “variants of interest” recently.
It is the fifth variant of interest to be monitored by the WHO. A variant of interest can be upgraded to “variant of concern” if it becomes more contagious, causes more severe illness, or evades the protection offered by vaccines.
The health agency has categorised variants of concern to prioritize global monitoring and research, with the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta types previously added to the list.
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, mutate over time, and most mutations have little or no effect on the properties of the virus.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr Ho Pak-leung told a radio program he had spotted two cases involving the variant while looking through a government database open to the public. He also questioned why residents had not been told about the infections.
Later in the day, health authorities confirmed that three imported cases carrying the variant had been detected over the summer.
Two of the patients – a 19-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman – had flown in from Colombia and were confirmed to have the Mu variant in early June of 2020.
Another 26-year-old woman who had arrived from the US had also carried the variant. She was found to be infected on July 24.
Can it trigger bigger outbreak?
About 4,500 infections involving the Mu variant have been reported across 39 countries, with more than half discovered in the US.
Government coronavirus adviser Professor David Hui Shu-cheong said it was unlikely the Mu variant would spread rapidly, emphasizing that the Delta type was a greater threat.
“Mu emerged in January. But the Delta variant also emerged around the same time and it has spread to 163 countries, so it has a much higher potential for spreading,” he told the Post.
The three cases detected in Hong Kong were found while the arrivals were undergoing hotel quarantine and had no direct contact with the local community, Hui said.
“They did not pose any risk to Hong Kong. It did not spread around in the community, so there wasn’t any problem that needed to be alerted immediately,” he said.
Hui also highlighted the time it took to conduct genome sequencing of coronavirus samples to identify which strains were present.
“Variants of interest will emerge with time, so eventually they will come up one after another. If they don’t cause problems within the community, there’s no urgent need to [alert] the public,” he said.
Extra precautions
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was asked why the public had not been told or alerted about the Mu variant cases immediately.
“Whether it is a new variant, variant of concern or any Covid-19 virus, we treat it in a very prudent manner,” Chan said adding officials were closely monitoring the situation.
Hong Kong already has some of the most stringent inbound quarantine policies in the world to prevent importing coronavirus infections.
There is no conclusive evidence as to whether the Mu variant will be able to evade the protection provided by current coronavirus vaccines.
The WHO warned that as the Mu variant had numerous mutations, it could be more resistant to vaccines, but stressed that further research would be needed to confirm this.
A laboratory study by experts in Rome tested the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the Mu variant, and found it was “neutralized” by antibodies produced by the jab.
However, a study published in medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on August 13 suggests that the Mu variant might show resistance to vaccines.
“The presence of mutations associated with vaccine escape might warrant reclassification of this variant to a variant of concern and deployment of additional public health resources to contain spread,” the scientists concluded in the report.
Mu — that had been detected in Colombia, South America is the new worry — not just for India but for the entire world.
The good part is that the Indian Government has said that the variant has not been found in India yet, there is no telling when it may enter the country and wreak havoc.
The country reported its first COVID-19 case in Kerala on January 27, 2020, and the country has been cuffed by the virus ever since and coming out of this pandemic dungeon looks only like a distant dream. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Delta variant as the Variant of Concern (VOC) on May 6, 2021, the country has seen a new wave of cases and death worldwide, slowing down the nation's recovery, threatening economic stability and severe social and political impacts.
The new variant is getting more attention now as it has started to spread around parts of the country and it is something to make a note of. Mu is not only being seen in high numbers or high percentages but it is being detected in different places throughout the US with highest prevalence of the variant in Colombia currently.
Clusters of mutation
It carries a cluster of mutations in the genome of COVID in the genetic structure. According to the WHO, it is still a Variant of Interest (VOI) and no samples have been detected in India yet.
"From Colombia it has spread to other South American countries such as Ecuador (13 percent) and Chile (around 40percent).
The Mu variant has now been detected in 43 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Ecuador, Canada and parts of Europe. So far, it has not been detected in India," says Dr Rahul Pandit, Member, COVID-19 Task Force, Maharashtra Government.
He further adds that there are more than 4700 cases of the Mu variant worldwide. Although with 2000 cases, the US has recorded the highest number of Mu cases, it is not yet regarded as an immediate threat.
"A VOI becomes a VOC when we see documented evidence that there is an increase in transmissibility of the virus, it is more dangerous, have more resistance to vaccines, and higher infectivity rate," says Dr Ankita Baidya, Consultant, Infectious Diseases, Manipal Hospital, Dwarka, New Delhi.
Despite making its first presence in January 2021, and being around since, the Mu variant doesn't seem to be as bad as Delta, which is the dominant variant across most of the world. But Mu has mutations which possess the potential of evading the protection we get from the COVID vaccines.
However, the concern is that it can lead to immune escape phenomena in the form that the existing antibodies through natural infection might not be able to protect us from this infection.
"When we see such novel strains circulating in the world, it becomes a concern especially with so many mutations in it that can evade our immunity and can also reinfect a person who has already recovered from the virus from some different strain," Baidya tells you.
The WHO has said, "The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape. Preliminary evidence shows that these mutations may allow it to escape vaccine- and convalescent serum-induced antibodies, similar to the Beta variant."
Dr Shomeshwar Singh, Lead Consultant, ENT, Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital says that though the reports have suggested its decline in most of the world apart from South America lately, we have to watch carefully how this strain spreads.
The exact infection rate as of now is not well established and requires more data because there have only been sporadic cases.
"With the mutation that it is carrying, there are chances of having a more severe infection from this strain as it is showing some sort of immune escape phenomena, which means that the previous antibody is not working and it can result in higher infectivity rate," says Baidya.
Talking about the efficacy of vaccines, there is still a lot of research to be done to confirm whether the existing vaccines will be effective against the Mu strain or not. Simultaneously, the risk that it can lower the vaccine's effect is also present.
Baidya says that the signs and symptoms of the mu strain are very much like the Delta variant. It also has a good amount of gastrointestinal symptoms along with the normal viral symptoms of upper respiratory tract that is the cough and cold, mild fever, loose motions, abdominal symptoms, nausea and dyspepsia. There can also be some headache, leg pain and body pain as with the other viral symptoms.
Currently, only symptomatic treatment is given for any variant, like that of existing strains. The treatment is mostly designed according to the severity of the disease whether it is mild, moderate or severe.
Many of us are wondering how quickly the virus mutates and with every new variant emerging, recovering from this deadly pandemic seems difficult and looks like a far-fetched dream.
Still, we are learning to live with the pandemic and now consider it as a part of life. The virus will continue to undergo mutation in the genetic structure to evade the immune response, to evade the antibody pressure and to evade the antiviral pressure.
The new mutations may be less or more severe than the existing strains but at the same time we should not stop from taking adequate infection control precautions like wearing a mask, practicing hand hygiene and maintaining social distancing.
"Today, the world is a smaller place since people travel far and wide in a matter of hours, this helps the virus spread. We need to exercise carefully drawn up social isolation and quarantine measures to fight the virus spread. Vaccination is very important," Singh tells you.
Some facts about Mu
A report from England’s public health agency last month suggested the mu variant might be as resistant to vaccines as the worrisome beta variant first seen in South Africa, but said more real-world data was needed
WHO officials said the mu variant appears to be rising in some countries in South America, but that the delta variant still spreads far more easily
The mu variant doesn’t seem to be spreading quickly: It accounts for fewer than 1 percent of COVID-19 cases globally
In Colombia, it may be responsible for about 39 percent of cases
Scientists monitor emerging COVID-19 variants based on suspicious genetic changes and then look for evidence to determine whether the new version is more infectious or causes more severe illness
Viruses evolve constantly and many new variants often fade away.
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