Virologists have said the highly mutated Covid variant detected in France is nothing to fear.
The B.1.640.2 strain is believed to have originated in Africa and has been discovered in twelve people near Marseille - as Mirror Online reports.
The emergence of the strain was first announced in a pre-print posted on medRxiv by experts based at the IHU Mediterranee Infection, but their work regarding the strain has not yet been published in an academic journal.
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According to the scientists, the lineage of the strain is believed to have 46 mutations. This includes the E484K mutation, which is thought to make it more resistant to vaccine, and the N501Y mutation that some experts believe can make it more transmissible.
However, the Imperial Department of Infectious Disease virologist Tom Peacock said the variant was first recorded on November 4, two weeks before Omicron was detected - and had "a decent chance to cause trouble but never really materialised".
He tweeted: "Lots of chat about B.1.640.2 in the last few days - just a few points to keep in mind: - B.1.640.2 actually predates Omicron - in all that time there are exactly... 20 sequences (compared to the >120k Omis in less time) Def not one worth worrying about too much at the moment."
Mr Peacock clarified another sequence of the variant had been recorded after his initial statement, but continued to assert this is nothing to worry about.
He added: "Full disclosure on this - right after I posted this thread a new 640.2 sequence from Marseille got uploaded - fact still remains this is a total of 21 sequence over 2.5 months. The odd sequence, or even cluster, may continue to appear but zero sign currently its taking off."
No cases of the variant have been formally recorded in other countries, nor has the strain been labelled as being “under investigation” by the World Health Organisation.
WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove tweeted about the variant on Monday, noting that the strain had been recorded as a “Variant Under Monitoring” by the WHO in November.
The classification meant it had been defined as a variant with "genetic changes that are suspected to affect virus characteristics with some indication that it could pose a future risk, but evidence of phenotypic or epidemiological impact is currently unclear".
According to University College London geneticist Professor Francis Balloux, the variant is not linked with a spike in cases or hospitalisations in France.
The professor urged people to “relax” with the strain at this stage not presenting a major threat.
There are scores of new variants discovered all the time, but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous than Delta or Alpha.
What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.
As of December last year, 17 different variants had been registered across the country, with some having little impact, while others - including Omicron - have been cause for concern, according to experts.
Variants are being investigated and tracked as people test positive for them and figures are published on the government's website which show the amount of new cases of the variants since the last update, and the total so far.
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