Government sources said the isolated sample is being studied to assess the efficacy of available vaccines. “Scientists are studying whether the currently available vaccines are effective in preventing infections or serious illness caused by the new sub-variant,” said a source.
India has reported four cases of Covid-19 caused by the BF.7 variant since July.
Three cases have been reported from Gujarat and one such case has been confirmed from Odisha, sources said. All four patients were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms and they recovered from the disease, they added.
The first case was reported in July where a 60-year-old man in Ahmedabad had tested positive for Covid and his sample showed the sub-variant BF.7. He had a cough and mild fever, said state health department officials. The second case in Ahmedabad was of a 57-year-old man from Sola area.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials said that the man is currently in Australia after he recovered. Close contacts in the case have not developed any symptoms, they added. The man also had a reported dry cough with mild fever. In Vadodara, the sub-variant was found from the sample of a 61-year-old woman who had come to the city from the US. She had arrived in the city on September 11 and had tested positive on September 18. As she showed symptoms associated with Covid, she was advised to take a test.
In Odisha, the officials said, the BF.7 sub-variant was found in a 57-year-old woman who got the Covid test done because she had to travel to the US. “She was asymptomatic,” they said. Experts said that while the sub-variant is responsible for a spike in new Covid cases in countries including China, Japan and South Korea, it would take some more time for India to assess its impact. “BF.7 has a reproduction value of more than 10 meaning an individual infected by the variant can infect at least 10 others,” said Dr N K Mehra, an emeritus scientist of ICMR, adding that so far it hasn’t caused any significant surge in cases.
