Health Officials In The US Claim Newly Identified Mu Variant Of Coronavirus Might Be A Cause Of Worry

Kathleen Kinder
Kathleen Kinder

Updated · Sep 15, 2021

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The delta variant of coronavirus has been causing a massive surge in the number of COVID19 cases in the United States. Amid extensive vaccine rollout programs in the country, health care facilities and hospitals are flooded with COVID19 cases in many states in the US. As the concerning strain continues to spread in the country, public health officials are keeping a close watch on another new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that might dodge antibodies derived from COVID19 shots. They have been tracking the mu variant of coronavirus, which has been identified in L.A. County. They have said that the variant is spreading in Los Angeles County at present. However, health officials have said that the delta variant remains a huge cause of worry. The World Health Organization has termed this new variant as a variant of interest in the last week of August. As per the County Department of Public Health, nearly 167 cases of COVID19 in Los Angeles County have been linked to this variant so far.

The head of the County Department of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer has said that the emergence of strains such as Mu and other variants that are circulating across the world shows that residents of Los Angeles County need to take stringent measures to keep themselves protected from these concerning strains of the virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said that health officials from the US Department of Health understand the risk posed by the new variant and they are taking it quite seriously. He has said that although the new variant has been spreading in the US, it is not a dominant variant yet, on the other hand, the delta variant accounts for more than 99 percent of COVID19 cases in the US at present.

Experts have said that the mu variant has been detected in Columbia for the first time in January 2021. Since then, it has been circulating in nearly 39 countries across the globe. Dr. Anthony Fauci who is also the chief medical advisor to the Biden government in the US has said that the mu variant, which is also known as B.1.621, has certain mutations that can evade certain antibodies derived from vaccines. However, it is still uncertain whether the variant will be able to dodge antibodies, as there is very little data available on this. Health experts from the WHO has said that there is a need for further studies to evaluate the threat posed by this new strain or if it can actually bypass antibodies produced by vaccines.

Some experts have said that the mu variant might be more infectious and transmissible as compared to other variants; however, more research is required to confirm this. Health officials have said that getting vaccines and layering immunity have become quite essential to break the chain of transmission. Getting maximum protection will also block the proliferation of the virus that usually helps it to mutate further. Dr. Barbara Ferrer has said that though the new variant is circulating in Los Angeles County, the delta variant still contributes to 99 percent of cases in the county. At present, nearly 1641 people in Los Angeles County are admitted to hospitals with severe COVID19 infection. Around 27 percent of them are fighting for life in intensive care units. On Friday, Los Angeles County has recorded 2673 new cases of COVID19 and 37 deaths linked to COVID19.

Health experts from the WHO have said that viruses are prone to rapid mutation as they spread, however not all strains will be able to sustain for a long time. If a strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads faster than usual and leads to more severe infection as compared to the original strain or reduces the efficiency of available vaccines or treatment options, it is labeled as a more severe variant of concern. The WHO has labeled four strains of coronavirus as variants of concern, which are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants. One of the Columbian health officials, Marcela Mercado has said that the mu variant has played a crucial role in the third wave of the pandemic across the country from April to June 2021. As per the report, during this time, the country has recorded 700 deaths each day. Marcela Mercado has said that around two-thirds of tests that have been performed on people who have lost their lives due to COVID19 have turned out to be linked to the mu strain. As per the data from John Hopkins University, Columbia has been reporting just a little less than 14000 new cases of COVID19 and 530 new deaths linked to the virus.

The country has immunized less than 30 percent of its citizens so far. The WHO has reported that there have been certain huge outbreaks of the mu variant in South America and Europe, but the primary regions of this variant are Columbia and Ecuador. Health officials from the WHO have said that the global prevalence of this variant has been less than 0.1 percent; however, the variant is 39 percent prevalent in Columbia and 13 percent prevalent in Ecuador. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has been requesting people who are eligible for vaccination to get the shots as soon as possible. Vaccination sites that are available in the county have been offering third doses of COVID19 shots to eligible people who are dealing with weaker immune systems as booster shots. Heath officials from Los Angeles County have said that inoculation is free and always accessible to eligible people and workers regardless of their immigration status.

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Kathleen Kinder

Kathleen Kinder

With over four years of experience in the research industry, Kathleen is generally engrossed in market consulting projects, catering primarily to domains such as ICT, Health & Pharma, and packaging. She is highly proficient in managing both B2C and B2B projects, with an emphasis on consumer preference analysis, key executive interviews, etc. When Kathleen isn’t deconstructing market performance trajectories, she can be found hanging out with her pet cat ‘Sniffles’.