Scientists warn if there is not enough investigation of Corona positive samples in India - ... treatment will be difficult, vaccine will also lose its effect

new Delhi

The second wave of corona in India is becoming intense. In February, on average, 11,000 new cases were being reported every day, now they have increased more than 9 times. On Tuesday, more than 1 lakh 15 thousand new cases of corona infection were reported across the country. After all, what is the reason for such a rapid boom in transition? Is there a new variant of the virus that is spreading so fast? According to experts, India has failed to conduct adequate investigations in the laboratories of corona infection-positive samples. Therefore, it does not have enough data that can prove to help understand the cause of the fast-growing case.

... then effective treatment in hospitals can be difficult

In a recent report by Bloomberg, experts have been warned that if India does not increase the genetic sequencing data rapidly in time, then not only will the treatment become difficult, but it can also happen that the vaccine has a significant effect on the virus. Neither is it. Scientists have warned that if India does not do rapid genetic sequencing of positive samples, its war against Corona will become very weak. Neither hospitals will be able to get effective treatment, nor will the vaccine prove to be more effective against the virus.

Genetic sequencing is important for monitoring the variants of viruses

Testing is important in the fight against corona infection, more important is the study of genome frequency of positive samples. Among those who are found to be infected, all the samples are tested further to see if a new variant of the virus is being produced or there is no change in it which is more dangerous and contagious. According to Professor Bhramar Mukherjee at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, India does not have enough data on new variants of the coronavirus to tell whether some new variants are the cause of the sudden surge in infection.

India far behind US, UK in genetic sequencing

India is far behind countries like Britain and America in the case of genetic sequencing of positive samples. According to government data, India has done genetic sequencing of less than 1 percent of its positive samples. In Britain on the other hand, this figure is 8 percent. Last week, the UK examined 33 percent of positive samples, a third for further investigation in the lab. At the same time, the US also said last month that it is doing genetic sequencing of about 4 percent of the new cases.

Genetic sequencing started in 10 government labs in December

After receiving new variants of the coronavirus in Britain, in December last year, when cases of some travelers coming from India also got infected, New Delhi formed a consortium of 10 government labs to examine the samples. However, from January to March, India sequenced just 11,064 samples. This information was given by the Ministry of Health on 30 March. In this way, less than 0.6 percent of the new cases in India were sequenced.

80 variants of UK variants, 47 cases of African strains in the country

According to the Health Ministry, as of March 30 in India, 807 cases involving Corona's UK variants, 47 South African strains, and one of the Brazilian variants were reported. The Ministry has been saying that the rapid rise in new cases has no relation with the new variants. According to the studies that have been done so far, some of these new strains are going to spread very fast while one of them is very deadly. Another strain can re-infect people who have recovered from the infection.

The more infection, the greater the chance that the virus will mutate.

Bhramar Mukherjee says, "The more you allow the infection to spread, the greater the chance that the virus will mutate." The Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) is also among the 10 labs in India where genetic sampling of positive samples is taking place. CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra says about the challenges of sequencing, “India has sufficient lab capacity for genome sequencing but it is challenging to acquire samples regularly from across the country. The problem is to get samples regularly especially from remote rural areas and potential super-spreaders events.

Second wave more dangerous than first wave: Expert

According to Kerala-based economist and public health policy analyst Rijo M. John, new cases are growing rapidly due to the slow pace of vaccination, negligence of people, social distancing, and non-adherence to rules such as masks. John is also associated with the World Health Organization as a consultant. He warns about the second wave in India, "So far the second wave is less deadly i.e. death rate is less but it is going to be much worse than the first wave." According to John, the government has failed to reduce the public's reluctance to vaccinate. The world's largest vaccination campaign lags far behind the government's own goal.

At this pace, vaccination will not be completed in the next 2 years.

India is currently applying 26 lakh vaccine doses every day. At this pace, it will take another 2 years to vaccinate 75 percent of its population. According to Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, about 5 percent of people in India have got their first dose while only 0.8 percent have received both doses.