The Lambda variant, also known as lineage C.37, is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.[1] It was first detected in Peru in August 2020.[2] On 14 June 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) named it Lambda variant[1] and designated it as a variant of interest.[3] On 16 March 2022, the WHO has de-escalated the Lambda variant to "previously circulating variants of concern".[4][5]
It has spread to at least 30 countries[6] around the world and is known to be more resistant to neutralizing antibodies compared to other strains.[7][8][9] There is evidence that suggests the Lambda variant is both more infectious and resistant to vaccines than the Alpha and/or Gamma variant.[10][11]
Mutations
The Lambda genome has the following amino acid mutations, all of which are in the virus's spike protein code: G75V, T76I, Δ246-252, L452Q, F490S, D614G and T859N.[12]
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![Amino acid mutations of SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant plotted on a genome map of SARS-CoV-2 with a focus on the spike.[13]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/SARS-CoV-2_Lambda_variant.svg/3658px-SARS-CoV-2_Lambda_variant.svg.png)
Amino acid mutations of SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant plotted on a genome map of SARS-CoV-2 with a focus on the spike.[13]
![Amino acid mutations of SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant plotted on a genome map of SARS-CoV-2 with a focus on the spike.[13]](/wiki/File:SARS-CoV-2_Lambda_variant.svg)
History
First samples of the Lambda variant were detected in Peru in August 2020[2] and by April 2021, over eighty percent of new cases of COVID-19 in Peru were from the new variant.[1][14] In mid-June 2021, 90.6% of new COVID-19 cases in Arequipa and 78.1% of new cases in Cusco were the Lambda variant, according to the Peruvian Ministry of Health.[15] By this time the Lambda variant had also spread throughout South America and was detected in twenty-nine countries in total, especially in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador.[14][16] The WHO designated the Lambda variant as a "variant of interest" on 14 June 2021.[1]
On 6 July 2021, Australia reported its first case of the Lambda variant in an overseas traveler who had been in a New South Wales quarantine hotel in April.[17]
On 19 July 2021, Texas reported its first case of the Lambda variant.[18] On 22 July 2021, Florida reported 126 cumulative confirmed cases of the Lambda variant.[19] On 28 July 2021, University of Miami researchers announced random sampling showed 3 percent of COVID-19 patients in Jackson Memorial Health System and at University of Miami's UHealth Tower were infected with it.[20] On 5 August 2021, Louisiana reported its first case of the Lambda variant.[21]
On 7 August 2021, Japan confirmed its first case of the Lambda variant, with the infected person arriving in Japan from Peru on 20 July.[22]
On 15 August 2021, the Philippines confirmed its first case of the Lambda variant.[23]
Statistics
| Country | Confirmed cases | Collection date |
|---|---|---|
 Chile
|
1,489 | 13 July 2021 |
 Peru
|
1,480 | 15 June 2021 |
 United States
|
848 | 5 August 2021 |
 Ecuador
|
194 | 20 July 2021 |
 Mexico
|
189 | 14 July 2021 |
 Spain
|
124 | 7 July 2021 |
 Argentina
|
111 | 24 June 2021 |
 Germany
|
87 | 13 July 2021 |
 France
|
56 | 19 July 2021 |
 Colombia
|
51 | 29 June 2021 |
 Israel
|
25 | 9 May 2021 |
 Switzerland
|
8 | 25 July 2021 |
 Canada
|
26 | 21 June 2021 |
 The Netherlands
|
3 | 11 July 2021 |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis
|
10 | 6 June 2021 |
 Belgium
|
2 | 23 July 2021 |
 United Kingdom
|
8 | 10 July 2021 |
 Italy
|
12 | 26 June 2021 |
 Brazil
|
7 | 21 June 2021 |
 India
|
6 | 12 April 2021 |
 Denmark
|
1 | 11 August 2021 |
 Sweden
|
1 | 15 July 2021 |
 South Africa
|
3 | 14 July 2021 |
 Portugal
|
1 | 10 June 2021 |
 Qatar
|
3 | 13 April 2021 |
 Latvia
|
2 | 30 April 2021 |
 Aruba
|
2 | 2 June 2021 |
 Bolivia
|
1 | 2 June 2021 |
 Uruguay
|
1 | 15 April 2021 |
 Australia
|
1 | 3 April 2021 |
 Lithuania
|
1 | 19 May 2021 |
 Norway
|
1 | 7 July 2021 |
 Estonia
|
1 | 1 April 2021 |
 Russia
|
1 | 21 March 2021 |
 Finland
|
1 | 31 May 2021 |
 Turkey
|
1 | 8 February 2021 |
 Bangladesh
|
1 | 20 March 2021 |
 Japan
|
1 | 7 August 2021 |
 Philippines
|
1 | 15 August 2021[25] |
 Venezuela
|
2 | 5 May 2021 |
| Mayotte
|
1 | 15 July 2021 |
 El Salvador
|
3 | 30 April 2021 |
 Guatemala
|
1 | 3 July 2021 |
 Costa Rica
|
4 | 20 July 2021 |
| World (44 countries) | Total: 4,763 | Total as of 23 August 2021 |
See also
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References
- ^ a b c d "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ a b "Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 15 June 2021" (PDF) (44 ed.). World Health Organization. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased COVID-19 incidence. The earliest sequenced samples were reported from Peru in August 2020.
- ^ "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants". who.int. World Health Organization. Updated frequently.
- ^ "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants (updated 2022-03-16)". www.who.int. 2022-03-16. Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
- ^ "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants (updated 2022-03-07)". www.who.int. 2022-03-07. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
- ^ "Covid 19 coronavirus: Ultra-contagious Lambda variant detected in Australia". New Zealand Herald. 6 July 2021.
- ^ Kimura, Izumi; Kosugi, Yusuke; Wu, Jiaqi; Yamasoba, Daichi; Butlertanaka, Erika P.; Tanaka, Yuri L.; Liu, Yafei; Shirakawa, Kotaro; Kazuma, Yasuhiro; Nomura, Ryosuke; Horisawa, Yoshihito; Tokunaga, Kenzo; Takaori-Kondo, Akifumi; Arase, Hisashi; Saito, Akatsuki; Nakagawa, So; Sato, Kei (28 July 2021). "SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant exhibits higher infectivity and immune resistance". bioRxiv 10.1101/2021.07.28.454085.
- ^ "COVID-19: Lambda variant may be more resistant to vaccines than other strains". World Is One News. 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Lambda variant: What is the new strain of Covid detected in the UK?". The Independent. 6 July 2021.
- ^ Mohammadi, Mehrdad; Shayestehpour, Mohammad; Mirzaei, Hamed (2021-07-01). "The impact of spike mutated variants of SARS-CoV2 [Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Lambda] on the efficacy of subunit recombinant vaccines". The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 25 (4): 101606. doi:10.1016/j.bjid.2021.101606. ISSN 1413-8670. PMC 8367756. PMID 34428473.
- ^ Acevedo, Mónica L.; Alonso-Palomares, Luis; Bustamante, Andrés; Gaggero, Aldo; Paredes, Fabio; Cortés, Claudia P.; Valiente-Echeverría, Fernando; Soto-Rifo, Ricardo (2021-07-01). "Infectivity and immune escape of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest Lambda". medRxiv 10.1101/2021.06.28.21259673v1.
- ^ Robertson, Sally (27 June 2021). "Lambda lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has potential to become variant of concern". news-medical.net. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
The Lambda variant also contained a novel deletion (Δ246-252) and multiple nonsynonymous mutations (G75V, T76I, L452Q, F490S, D614G, and T859N) in the gene that encodes the viral spike protein.
- ^ "Spike Variants: Lambda variant, aka B.1.1.1". covdb.stanford.edu. Stanford University Coronavirus Antiviral & Resistance Database. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
- ^ a b "WHO reports on Lambda: the new variant of COVID-19 that is affecting South America". Entrepreneur. 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Acosta, Sebastián (2021-06-16). "Coronavirus en Perú | Minsa: El 90,6 % de los contagios en Arequipa se deben a la variante Lambda" [Coronavirus in Peru | Minsa: 90.6% of infections in Arequipa are due to the Lambda variant]. RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Mendez, Rich (2021-06-16). "WHO says delta Covid variant has now spread to 80 countries and it keeps mutating". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ "Covid-19 Australia: Strain more transmissible than Delta hits Australia". News.com.au. 6 July 2021.
- ^ EDT, Khaleda Rahman On 7/20/21 at 7:09 AM (2021-07-20). "Lambda COVID variant detected in Texas hospital". Newsweek. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "US, South American researchers monitoring Lambda COVID-19 variant as cases surge". 23 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
- ^ "New evidence shows the COVID-19 Delta variant rapidly rising". news.miami.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
- ^ WBRZ. "First cases of COVID Lambda variant reported in North Louisiana". WBRZ. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
- ^ "Japan confirms first case of lambda variant infection". The Japan Times. 2021-08-07. Archived from the original on 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
- ^ Garcia, Ma. Angelica (August 15, 2021). "First lambda variant case detected in the Philippines". GMA News. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ "GISAID - hCov19 Variants". www.gisaid.org. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
- ^ Press Release (August 15, 2021). "DOH, UP-PGC, and UP-NIH confirm additional COVID-19 variant cases including first case of Lambda variant". Department of Health, Government of the Philippines. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.