While the world is still struggling hard to deal with Coronavirus, a new strain believed to be 10 times more infectious that the present one has been detected in Malaysia, recently.
The mutation called D614G, was found in at least 3 cases from two clusters, one of which apparently started when a restaurant owner and permanent Malaysian resident returned to the country from India.
Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director General of Health in Malaysia, confirmed this in a Facebook post.
According to him, the development of this particular strain could mean that the existing studies on vaccines for coronavirus may be incomplete or ineffective.
Speaking to media, he said:
So far these two clusters are controlled due to the fast-paced public health control actions on the field. This test is an early test. There are several follow-up tests in progress for many other cases. These include index cases for both these clusters.
While Dr. Abdullah warned people to stay more cautious as the virus spreads more easily by an individual ‘super spreader’, the World Health Organization has said that there there is no evidence that the strain leads to a more severe disease.
According to the WHO, this mutation has now become the predominant variant in Europe and the US.
Further, according to a paper in ‘Cell Press’ the new mutation may not have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines.
Malaysia, which has largely managed to contain the resurgence of coronavirus, recently saw a rise in the number of fresh cases as it reported 25 and 26 cases last Saturday and Sunday, respectively.