Fast-spreading mutation found in the Lambda variant, say researchers

While the Delta variant of COVID-19 is aggravating situations around the world, a study found that another variant Lambda is found out to spread fast and have resistance to vaccines. “The Lambda variant may be a potential threat to humanity,” said researchers.

According to Reuters on Monday, researchers at Tokyo University in Japan published the result of their study on the Lambda variant on science journal website bioRxiv on July 28. The result shows that mutation making the virus spread faster than COVID-19 was found in the Lambda variant. It also suggested that it spread faster than the Delta variant under certain conditions. But it has not been confirmed exactly how fast the Lambda variant spreads compared to the existing virus and how high the fatality rate is. “The world still doesn’t understand how dangerous the Lambda variant is,” said the researchers.

The new variant is known to have been found in Peru in December last year. But researchers said it was also found in the coronavirus in Argentina on November 8. The variant is spreading fast in South American countries including Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. According to the National Institutes of Health in Peru, more than 80 percent of COVID-19 patients in the country are infected with the Lambda variant. More breakthrough infections by the new variant are found in Chile where 65 percent of citizens are fully vaccinated. According to the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), the new variant has been found in 26 countries.


Eun-Taek Lee nabi@donga.com