Four cases of the BF.7 have been reported in India since July, so the variant is not a brand-new finding, but the isolation and efficacy tests are.
In New Delhi: The Indian government’s experts have apparently isolated a sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that carries the virulent BF.7 strain amid growing concerns of a fourth COVID-19 outbreak. The sample is being used to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines that are currently prescribed in India.
According to sources, researchers are looking into how well the current vaccines work at preventing infections or other serious illnesses brought on by the new subtype.
Four cases of the BF.7 have been reported in India since July, so the variant is not a brand-new finding, but the isolation and efficacy tests are.
When a 60-year-old man tested positive for the virus and the variant was discovered in a sample of his blood, Gujarat, India, was the site of one of the first cases of the variant. The remaining case is from Odisha, whereas three of the four instances were reported from the same state.
All four patients either lacked symptoms or just experienced minor ones, and they all made a full recovery. According to Dr. N. K. Mehra, an ICMR scientist, “BF.7 has a reproduction value of more than 10, suggesting an individual infected by the variation can infect at least 10 others.”
