Indian Institute succeeds in isolating and culturing Omicron strain in lab
- In Reports
- 07:45 PM, Dec 25, 2021
- Myind Staff
A strain of Covid-19 has been isolated and cultured in the lab of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology. Both ICMR and DBT have had some success in culturing the virus, according to Balram Bhargava, director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
"Both ICMR and DBT have been working continuously to culture the virus. Initially, we had some difficulty in culturing and growing the virus now we had some success in culturing the virus both at ICMR and DBT," he said.
Growing Omicron in the lab will be useful for determining the behaviour of the strain in the Indian population, as well as determining its potential infectiousness and determining how effective existing vaccines are.
"We have the sera of Omicron infected individuals, those infected with Delta and the original strain and we are testing the efficacy of the vaccines on these variants," Bhargava added.
“We had some trouble in the beginning, but now we have got some success.’ Research on Omicron, cultured in the lab, will reveal how it affects the Indian population. Along with this, new information will also come out about its infectivity and its effect on the vaccine”, he said.
A study will be needed to determine whether the new virus is immune to vaccinations and how seriously it affects an infected individual. A new strain is also being grown at the National Institute of Virology in Pune. After the test is complete, experts will know whether the variant will escape the immune response and how infectious it is. Booster doses will also be shaped by the findings.
In January, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) will meet to discuss the need for booster vaccinations, additional vaccinations for immunocompromised people, and child vaccinations.
"By then the variant would have been grown in the lab and we would get some answers regarding the effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron," said a senior government official.
Image source: India tv news
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