On January 4, according to comprehensive reports from several media, the French Marseille Mediterranean Infection Research Center discovered a new coronavirus variant “B.1.640.2” in the Marseille region of southern France, named “IHU”. Foreign media even described it as a “distant relative” of Omicron.
Last December, an under-review study published by researchers at the Mediterranean Center for Infection Research in Marseilles, France and published on the medical website medRxiv, revealed that the IHU variant strain carries 46 mutations (up from 37 in Omicron), more than the original virus. More contagious and more resistant to the effects of the new crown vaccine. The study has not been officially released because it is still under review.
The study pointed out: A total of 12 confirmed cases of IHU have been detected in Marseille so far. The first IHU infected person entered from Cameroon, an African country, and was first discovered in early December 2021. However, IHU did not spread rapidly locally. Other The country has also not reported related cases.
There is currently no indication that the IHU variant virus will be more ferocious than the Omicron variant virus, and there is no indication that IHU will replace Omicron at this stage.
