Vietnam discovers two new strains of SARS-CoV-2 from imported cases

Spraying sterilised substances at the No 2 to prevent SARS-CoV-2 virus from spreading (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases has discovered
two , namely B.1.222 and B.1.619, after gene
sequencing of patient samples.

Van
Dinh Trang, Head of the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Ward under the
hospital, told the Suc khoe & Doi song (Health
and Life) newspaper that the B.1.222 variant had appeared in 11 countries, but
was most common in the UK and particularly Scotland. This strain has many
mutations on the spike protein different from the Indian strain B.1.617.2.

Variant
B.1.222 was discovered when the hospital’s COVID-19 research team sequenced the
SARS-CoV-2 gene from the oropharyngeal specimen of a 29-year-old patient, a
Ukrainian expert. The patient was quarantined immediately after entering Vietnam.

Variant
B.1.619 has spike protein similar to Indian strain B.1.617.2. Variant B.1.619
appeared in many countries, possibly originating from Cameroon and then
spreading to Europe.

This
variant was discovered in Vietnam when experts from the hospital conducted
genetic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus specimen of an Indian expert who
was quarantined immediately after entering Vietnam.

Trang
said Patient 2,857, an employee of the hotel where an Indian team of experts
quarantined in Yen Bai province was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus with the
characteristics of the Indian variant B.1.617.2.

These
two variants have not been found in nearly 200 gene sequenced hospital samples.

Thus,
with these two newly discovered strains, Vietnam has recorded seven strains of
SARS-CoV-2.

The
five previously discovered strains are D614G from Europe, which caused the
outbreak in Da Nang city, B.1.1.7 from the UK, which caused the outbreak in Hai
Duong province, B.1.351 from South Africa in a South African patient
quarantined on arrival on December 19, 2020, A.23.1 from Rwanda, Africa,
recorded at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, and
B.1.617.2, recently discovered from Indian experts.

The
National Hospital for Tropical Diseases is the leading COVID-19 treatment
facility in Vietnam. At present, 344 patients are being treated there,
including 52 patients in serious health conditions./.