As of: May 31, 2021 11:36 a.m.
In India and also in Great Britain, a new mutant of the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 is currently multiplying rapidly. How dangerous is the Indian variant – and do the vaccines protect against it?
In Germany, B.1.617, the name of this virus, also known as the Indian variant, does not yet play a major role. Well over 90 percent of all new infections in this country are due to the British variant B.1.17, only two percent to the Indian one. But that could change quickly, experts warn.
Rapid spread: Indian variant B.1.167 is more contagious
In India, the share of the new variant was still one percent in March and 90 percent in May. In the UK, every second infection can now be traced back to B.1.617 – a month ago it was every hundredth infection. This is also due to the special features of this variant: It has a total of 15 mutants, two of which change the appearance of the so-called spike protein. They lead to the fact that B.1.617 binds better to human cells, i.e. is more contagious. So far there are no indications that the Indian variant leads to more serious illnesses.
There are several reasons for the dramatic situation in India
Several 100,000 people are currently infected every day in India. This is also due to the on-site health care, because whoever falls ill has little chance of help. The clinics are overcrowded and there is far too little oxygen. Because so many people are dying, some of the bodies are cremated on the street. In addition, many people in India suffer from previous illnesses, live in confined spaces and under poor hygienic conditions – an ideal breeding ground for a virus to infect a large number of people very quickly.
Mucor mushroom rages among Indian Covid-19 patients
Many Covid patients in India also suffer from a fungal infection that would be inconceivable in our country. The fungus called Mucor spreads over your mucous membrane, which has been attacked by Covid-19, grows through the paranasal sinuses into the eye, and sometimes into the brain. The only drug that can stop it is no longer available in India. This leaves doctors with only complex operations in which entire affected parts of the face, eyes, noses or tongues are removed. And the majority of those affected die anyway.
Cortisone promotes the growth of the Mucor fungus in diabetics
The Mucor mushroom normally decomposes wood and food, but it can also sometimes be found in our country, for example on strawberries. For people with a healthy immune system, however, it is harmless. It was only through their advice to take high doses of cortisone and antibiotics in case of Covid disease that the Indian government paved the way for fungal diseases such as Mucor. Cortisone raises blood sugar levels, and there are many untreated diabetics in India in particular. If their blood sugar level is too high, a receptor forms on their mucous membranes, to which the Mucor fungus can dock well.
Vaccines offer good protection against virus mutation after a second vaccination
Initial studies from Great Britain and at the Primate Center in Göttingen indicate that the vaccines offered in Germany also provide good protection against the new variant. Both the vaccines and the antibodies of recovered former Covid 19 patients protect against serious disease and death, even if not quite as well against infection. However, the first vaccination only protects around 33 percent against the new variant, and only after the second dose is there very good protection. In order to avoid new waves of infection, experts therefore recommend that all people be fully vaccinated as quickly as possible. In addition, everything should be done to keep the number of infections low. Because the fewer people carry the virus, the less opportunity it has to spread and mutate further.
