The emergence of a new coronavirus variant, Omicron EG.5.1 – casually named ‘Eris’ – has sparked fresh worries around the globe, but it has proved ineffective in India despite its presence since April, said Covid panel chief Dr NK Arora.
In July, the World Health Organization classified the mutant virus as a ‘variant under monitoring’ after the US and UK reported a surge in new infections leading to hospitalisations. But Dr Arora, the head of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) – the apex panel taking critical decisions on the use and deployment of coronavirus vaccines in India – said the “epidemiology of these countries is different from ours”.
Dr Arora told News18 that the central government is planning to expand the sewage surveillance mechanism, mimicking the polio elimination strategy, by covering high-risk areas in more than 50 cities. Calling it “one of the next scientific frontiers”, he said the new plan will not only focus on coronavirus detection but include tuberculosis, sepsis and several other resistant as well as novel pathogens.
Epidemiology, immune status of Indians different from other countries
“We must remember that epidemiology plays a crucial role in deciding the course of the pathogen. Our population has been repeatedly naturally infected and exposed to several variants,” Dr Arora said, while adding, “the response to these variants depends upon the immune status of the population as well.”
He said after October 2021, India has not observed any variant that led to an uptick in infection-linked hospitalisations. “India found Eris in April, which shows how sensitive our INSACOG surveillance system is; it picked the new variant much before others,” said Dr Arora, who is also co-chair of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG).
Following polio model, sewage surveillance set to go up
On the Centre’s plan to expand the sewage surveillance mechanism to the next level, the expert said the INSACOG had started surveillance of sewage water at 19 different sites in over 15 states. “It is an interesting tool for future prediction of pandemics and is capable of detecting outbreaks much before the actual spells,” he said.
Dr Arora further said this system has been used extensively for the elimination of polio from India, where more than 50 cities were under surveillance. “It covered all high-risk areas,” he said. “A plan on similar lines is being readied where sewage surveillance mechanisms will be expanded to cover the detection of novel pathogens.”
He added: “It will include tuberculosis, sepsis, and resistant bacteria among other novel pathogens. It will be one of our next scientific frontiers under the global ‘One health’ approach.”
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