Corona variant B.1.640.2 in France – what is known so far

In a preprint paper, researchers at the Méditerranée Infection University Hospital Institute (IHU) in southern France report on the new corona mutation B.1.640.2, which has been detected in some infected people in France. What is known about the virus variant so far?

B.1.640.2 is also known as the IHU variant after the name of the institute where it was discovered. To date, the mutation has been officially detected in 21 people who tested positive for  Corona  .

Similarities to other virus variants discovered

The IHU variant has some mutations in the spike protein. The mutation, called N501Y, has already appeared in the alpha, beta and omicron variants of the coronavirus and increases the virus’ ability to bind to human cells. The mutation E484K was also observed in the beta variant as well as in the gamma variant.

Both N501Y and E484K could reduce the effectiveness of currently available vaccines.

Currently no cause for concern

Despite initial findings, there is so far only little data that could provide information about the risk of infection with B.1.640.2 and about the course of the disease in infected people.

However, experts estimate the probability that B.1.640.2 could prevail against the currently predominant delta and omicron variants as rather low, since no rapid spread has been observed so far. The group of mutations to which B.1.640.2 belongs has been known since early 2021 and has been under observation since then: The B.1.640 variant family was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, no significant spread of the virus variant was observed there.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently places the mutation under category 3 (“under observation”). The mutant is not one of the worrying variants.