Study Reveals Genetic Characteristics Increase the Transmissibility of Lambda Variant

Sep, 2021 - By SMI

A new study conducted in Columbia for emerging variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) revealed the genomic features and descent of Lambda variant, B.1.621.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has posed a challenge to the economy and healthcare structure of countries globally. As the pandemic progressed, many new variants of SARS-CoV-2 such as Alpha, Delta, Lambda, and others have evolved continuously. These variants become the reason of tremendous crisis for the global population. In this context, it is important to mention that the global death count from the COVID-19 pandemic as of August 23, 2021 is 4.43 million. Thus, this statistics stresses on the need to maintain constant viral surveillance to detect newly emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. In this current study, the researchers studied about the genetic diversification of SARS-CoV-2, emerging variants of concern such as Lambda variant and its efficiency to escape neutralization. They explained about descent of lambda variant and revealed about multiple amino acid substitutions within the Spike protein or S protein. They also added that the genetic diversification of SARS-CoV-2 can speed up the transmission rate of the virus and can enable the virus to escape from neutralizing antibodies. These antibodies are generated in response to either vaccination or natural infection. The researchers observed that Lambda variant showed a rise in frequency in Columbia from January, 2021. The current study included genomic sequencing to get a real scenario of this lineage in Columbia and understand whether its dominance is rising or falling in the country.

The researchers concluded that further studies are required to interpret the epidemiology of the lineage which has been identified globally in many countries such as the U.S., Spain, Mexico, Denmark, and others.