'No mutant coronavirus strain in Pakistan'

No evidence of any mutation that is giving virus an additional virulence, says Dr Faisal Sultan

KARACHI:

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal Sultan has clarified that at present there is no evidence that coronavirus has undergone a mutation giving it an additional virulence.

Responding to APP queries on Thursday, he strongly dispelled the misconceptions about the mutant strain in the country and stressed that all viruses mutate with time and therefore it is nothing unusual.

“We don't have any evidence that the virus has mutated and is undetectable in the PCR test. Every single medical test has level of certainty. The PCR is the most accurate test on Covid. We have no scientific evidence the virus has mutated nor do we have any evidence that its mode of transmission has changed," an official from the ministry of health said.

However, he added that we do have an evolving trend and the spread is dependent on multiple factors.

A federal health ministry’s official contacted by APP via phone said that there was no evidence that mutated virus cannot be detected through PCR nor do we have proof that transmission of the virus changes its strain.

Dr Zahra Hasan, a member of the Medical Microbiology and Infectious Society of Pakistan (MMIDSP), elaborating it further said that robust diagnostic tests are designed to detect multiple target sites so that random point mutations do not affect their sensitivity.

“Robust PCR tests have at least two target genes and that way you should not miss diagnosing the target just because you may sequence variations in one target or other,” she said.

“We do not have any clinical evidence that mutations are causing different disease... it’s still speculation,” said Dr Zahra, who also a professor at Aga Khan University.

She reiterated that “genome sequencing” was ongoing and it would help us understand the strain diversity and disease associated with the strains, adding that people must continue to strictly adhere to standard operation procedures (SOPs) and help contain the spread of the Covid-19 as well as flu in the country.