By NG Seruela
The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) said the emergence of variants amid the COVID-19 pandemic is “part of the viral evolutionary process.”
In Friday’s (Sep. 3) Laging Handa public briefing, PGC Executive Director Dr. Cynthia Saloma advised the public not to be alarmed by the emergence of variants amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the “mutation on the emergence of variants” is “natural” in the evolution of a virus.
“Gusto ko lang pong ipahiwatig sa ating tagapakinig na just because may nakita na namang variant, maaalarma na naman po tayo. Huwag po tayong maalarma kasi iyong mutation on the emergence of variants natural po ‘yan sa evolution ng isang virus.”
She explained that every time a virus replicates and transfers from host to host, mutations occur. She said the mutations can be “deletion, insertion, or substitution or neutral substitution.”
“At saka iyong mga mutations na ito does not necessarily mean na magiging severe siya o magiging—mag-stay on siya. So the process of mutation is really part of the viral evolutionary process kaya huwag po tayong mabahala nito,” she said.
Saloma said that from a “scientific and epidemiological” standpoint, the variants are “important” to track its association with “increased transmissibility, immunization as well as, of course, if there is increased pathogenicity.”
“Pina-flag ko lang po itong mga variants of concern as well as variants of interest, or variant of investigation, or a variant under increased monitoring, para malaman po natin kung totoo ba na iyong mga variants na ito are really associated [sa] clinical manifestation doon sa increased in transmissibility sa mga cases na ito,” she added.
Meanwhile, she said the Mu variant, which was first detected in Colombia in January, is present in 39% of the cumulative sequence samples in that country.
“The earliest sample was collected in Colombia on 11 January 2021. So this represents mga 39% of cumulative sequence samples in Colombia so kaya nga po—siyempre this is happening in the background noong mayroon po tayong Delta variant. Pero sa Colombia po, among the sequenced cases they have, 39% na po ang kanilang naitalang mga new variants.”
She explained that the Mu variant has two kinds—the B.1.621 and the B.1.621.1. It was listed as a variant of interest (VOI) by the public health department of England in July and classified as a VOI by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August.
The Mu variant has been detected in 43 countries.
Saloma reported that based on their whole genome sequences, they have no detection of the Mu variant in the Philippines.
“So wala pa po tayong nakikita dito sa Pilipinas, pero we are always on standby and we are continuing our monitoring of the entry of these variants in our borders. ..So far in our country, despite the fact that we have sequenced more than 12,000, the whole genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2, we have not yet detected the Mu variant here in the Philippines.”
“And that viral mutations, they all emerge all the time, we are always hearing about these variants, we will continue to observe these variants,” she said. – jlo
