It has spread to at least 30 countries[6] around the world and is known to be more resistant toneutralizing 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 theAlpha and/orGamma variant.[10][11]
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]
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 inArequipa and 78.1% of new cases inCusco were the Lambda variant, according to the Peruvian Ministry of Health.[15] By this time the Lambda variant had also spread throughoutSouth America and was detected in twenty-nine countries in total, especially inArgentina,Chile andEcuador.[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 aNew 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, thePhilippines confirmed its first case of the Lambda variant.[23]
Statistics
Cases by country (Updated as of 23 August 2021)GISAID[24]
^ab"Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 - 15 June 2021"(PDF) (44 ed.).World Health Organization. 15 June 2021. Retrieved2021-08-16.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.
^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".medRxiv10.1101/2021.06.28.21259673v1.
^Robertson, Sally (27 June 2021)."Lambda lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has potential to become variant of concern".news-medical.net. Retrieved2021-07-05.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.
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COVID-19 portal![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]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSARS-CoV-2_Lambda_variant.svg)
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Brazil
India
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Aruba
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Uruguay
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