After Delta, Omicron, Florona now IHU variant infects many in France

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• Jan 4, 2022 | moderator

Paris: A range of covid variants are cropping up across the globe, spreading its branches even as the world continues to reel under the Covid pandemic. A new Covid variant with its origin traced to France has now infected its citizens. Temporarily named as IHU variant, is believed to have infected 12 people in France according to a yet-to-be peer reviewed study.

Suspected to be of Cameroonian origin, the Covid variant has its lineage named as B.1.6402. As per reports, the variant has 46 mutations and 37 deletions. “For twelve SARS-CoV-positive patients living in the same geographical area of southeastern France, qPCR testing that screen for variant-associated mutations showed an atypical combination,” said Phillipe Colson, from IHU Mediterranee Infection, Mareseille, France.

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‘It is too early to speculate on virological, epidemiological or clinical features of thi IHU variant,” Colson added.

The first patient to have detected this Covid variant IHU was a fully vaccinated adult who had returned to France from a trip to Cameroon in Central Africa.

Three days after returning, the patient developed mild symptoms of respiratory congestion. His nasopharyngeal sample was collected on mid-November 2021, revealed an atypical combination that did not correspond to the pattern of the Delta variant.

Respiratory samples collected from seven other SARS-CoV-2 positive patients exhibited the same combination of mutations screened by qPCR. The patients were two adults and five children (below 15 years of age).

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Studies after the genome sequencing found out that this genotype pattern led to the creation of a new Pangolin lineage names B.1.640.2, which is a phylogenetic sister group to the old B.1.640 lineage renamed B.1.640.1.

The mutation and phylogenetic position of the genomes thus obtained indicates, a new variant that has been named as IHU, added Colson.