The WHO is monitoring a coronavirus strain that has demonstrated signs of escaping the immunity made by vaccinations or past coronavirus infections. The so-called Mu strain has been compared to the virus’s Beta variant. Why? Because the WHO reckons that it has mutations that signify possible immune escape properties.
Preliminary data from the WHO’s Virus Evolution Working Group demonstrate a drop in neutralization capability of vaccine and convalescent sera. This is comparable to the reduction seen for coronavirus’s Beta strains, but the World Health Organization recommends further studies on this.
The Mu strain is described as a variant of interest that occurs as it turns into an emerging public health risk. The other coronavirus variants of interest are Eta, Iota, Kappa, and Lambda.
When a strain transmits at a higher rate, or demonstrates resistance to coronavirus preventive measures, it is likely to be described as the above-mentioned. Of all those variants that have been recognized in the United States of America, the Delta is the most dominant one.
Mu was found in Columbia in January 2021; since then, around 5,000 sequenced coronavirus disease cases have been recognized in 39 European and South American nations. The WHO stated that while sequences of this strain have come down on the whole, they have increased in Ecuador and Columbia. The prevalence of this coronavirus strain is regarded as being low even now. Nevertheless, the health organization will keep studying its features to determine whether it may get more contagious or deadly in the future.
