Two new strains of SARS-CoV-2 detected in Vietnam

According to Dr. Van Dinh Trang, head of the Department of Microbiology - Molecular Biology under the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, both new strains, known as B.1.222 and B.1.619, are notable for being different from the five strains which have been previously detected in the country.

The B.1.222 variant was initially detected from the oropharyngeal specimen of a patient who is an expert from Ukraine, while variant B.1.619 was found from an Indian expert after he had entered the nation.

Variant B.1.222 has already been found in 11 countries, the majority of which are in the UK, especially Scotland. This strain features many mutations on spike protein which is different from the Indian strain B.1.617.2, Dr. Trang said.

Furthermore, the B.1.619 strain has been reported in many countries and possibly originates from Cameroon in Africa before it spread to Europe. This strain has a spike protein similar to the B.1.617.2 strain from India.

"These two strains have never seen in about 200 samples that have been sequenced to date," said Dr. Trang.

Following the detection of these latest mutations, the nation has recorded seven strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus so far.

Along with the B.1.222 and B.1.619 strains which have just been discovered by the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the remaining strains include the Indian B.1.617.2 strain, the British B.1.1.7 strain, strain B .1.351 from South Africa, strain D614G from Europe, and the original SARS-CoV-2 strain from Wuhan.