A recently designated COVID-19 variant of interest by the World Health Organization is coming under scrutiny as more cases are being detected in multiple countries, and amid concerns that it carries mutations that could potentially make it more resistant to antibodies.
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A recently designated COVID-19 variant of interest by the World Health Organization is coming under scrutiny as more cases are being detected in multiple countries, and amid concerns that it carries mutations that could potentially make it more resistant to neutralizing antibodies.
The newly labelled Lambda variant, or C.37, was first detected as early as last August 2020 in Peru and was being monitored as an alert for some time prior to its new designation. As of mid-June, the variant had been detected in 29 countries or territories with a particularly high prevalence in South America.
“Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased COVID-19 incidence,” the global health agency wrote in its Weekly Epidemiological Update published on June 15.
“Lambda carries a number of mutations with suspected phenotypic implications, such as a potential increased transmissibility or possible increased resistance to neutralizing antibodies.”
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