Don’t worry about coronavirus severity, stay home

Is the Indian strain of coronavirus less virulent than strains in China and Italy, where a large number of fatalities have been reported?

For the last few days, the question over the virulence of the Indian strain of coronavirus compared to Europe and Asia is on top of everybody’s mind. There is a sense among the community that the coronavirus strain that is circulating locally is not that virulent.

However, genetic researchers from Hyderabad and epidemiologists from other States have made it clear that the information or data available is way too less to make any kind of conclusions.

“Such assertions are scientifically not valid. There is a definite need for more data from patients before making any such conclusions. You can’t make such assumptions based on such small data and those who make such claims are just based on imagination,” says CCMB Director, Dr. R K Mishra.

The top geneticist warned public on not getting carried away by such unconfirmed news on Indian strains of the novel Indian strains . “General public need not worry about virulence. It is very important for all of us to observe social distancing and stay indoors for the next two weeks and that’s the only way to save ourselves,” Dr. Mishra adds.

What do less data means?

So far, the Indian researchers have conducted genome sequencing of two coronavirus positive persons from Kerala, who had returned from Wuhan, China.

“In India, we have coronavirus positive cases coming from Europe, the United States of America, China and Saudi Arabia. So, there is a definite need for more data before coming to any kind of conclusions,” senior epidemiologists here point out.

According to reports, the coronavirus strains collected from two Kerala patients and sequenced by the researchers at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) were near identical to the coronavirus strains in Wuhan.

CCMB plans to sequence a larger data

The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular (CCMB) is planning to take-up genome sequencing of the entire coronavirus by taking samples to form a large set of positive patients, which will represent all geographical regions proportionately.

The genetic research institute, which has a huge and well-equipped laboratory, is expected to conduct and complete such genome sequencing of at least 500 patients in two weeks, which would allow clinicians to fine-tune their treatment and management modalities of Covid-19 positive patients.