New Covid-19 Variant – What is Known About ‘Pirola’ So Far?

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• About SARS-CoV-2
• How do Viruses Mutate?
• About Pirola Variant
• What is the Trend of Covid-19 cases in India?

Why in News?

• An article published in the Yale Medicine Review on August 31 has noted the rise of Covid-19 infections in multiple countries, driven by a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 called BA.2.86, which is informally being termed ‘Pirola’.

About SARS-CoV-2:

• SARS-CoV-2 is a member of a large family of viruses called coronaviruses.
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is the virus that causes Covid-19 (Corona Virus Disease-2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The virus is thought to spread from person to person through droplets released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.
• SARS-CoV-2 is new in humans and as it spreads, mutations are very frequent.
• Emerging variants with higher transmission efficiency become dominant, tending to replace others.

How do Viruses Mutate?

• Once a virus enters the human body, its genetic material — RNA or DNA — enters the cells and starts making copies of itself which can infect the other cells.
• Whenever an error occurs during this copying process, it triggers a mutation.
• When a virus is widely circulating in a population and causing many infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases.
  • A mutation is a change in a DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) sequence.
• The more opportunities a virus has to spread, the more it replicates – and the more opportunities it gets to undergo changes.
• Most viral mutations have little to no impact on the virus’s ability to cause infections and disease.
• But depending on where the changes are located in the virus’s genetic material, they may affect a virus’s properties, such as transmission (for example, it may spread more or less easily) or severity (for example, it may cause more or less severe disease).

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About Pirola Variant:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported only 21 cases of Pirola globally till August end.
• The health agencies from the United States as well as the United Kingdom — both of which have reported a few cases of Pirola — have said that the numbers are too little to determine whether the variant can spread faster or cause more severe disease.
• However, it was designated as a “variant under monitoring” because of more than 30 mutations it carries on the critical spike protein — the protein that attaches with receptors on human cells to enter the body.
  • According to Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist, the high number of mutations is a point of concern here.
• The US CDC (Centers for Disease Control) says that the detection of the highly mutated variants across several countries shows some degree of transmissibility.

What is the Trend of Covid-19 cases in India?

• The number of cases has remained low in the country, with doctors reporting that most of them are mild.
• India reported just 18 cases of the infection in the previous 24 hours, with the highest numbers coming from Maharashtra, which accounts for over 200 of the 500 active cases in the country at present.

Q1)What does RNA mean?

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself or by forming a template for production of proteins.

Q2) What is the basic difference between DNA and RNA?

DNA is a double-stranded molecule that has a long chain of nucleotides. RNA is a single-stranded molecule which has a shorter chain of nucleotides. DNA replicates on its own, it is self-replicating. RNA does not replicate on its own.

Source: What is Pirola variant of Covid-19 all about? What are signs and symptoms and how can you remain protected?  | Indian Express