SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant

Main article: Variants of SARS-CoV-2

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]

• 
  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 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

Cases by country (Updated as of 23 August 2021) GISAID^[24]

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

• COVID-19 portal
• Medicine portal
• Viruses portal

• Variants of SARS-CoV-2: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Mu, Omicron

References

1. "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
2. "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.
3. "Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants". who.int. World Health Organization. Updated frequently.
4. "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.
5. "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.
6. "Covid 19 coronavirus: Ultra-contagious Lambda variant detected in Australia". New Zealand Herald. 6 July 2021.
7. 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.
8. "COVID-19: Lambda variant may be more resistant to vaccines than other strains". World Is One News. 6 July 2021.
9. "Lambda variant: What is the new strain of Covid detected in the UK?". The Independent. 6 July 2021.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. "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.
14. "WHO reports on Lambda: the new variant of COVID-19 that is affecting South America". Entrepreneur. 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. "Covid-19 Australia: Strain more transmissible than Delta hits Australia". News.com.au. 6 July 2021.
18. 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)
19. "US, South American researchers monitoring Lambda COVID-19 variant as cases surge". 23 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
20. "New evidence shows the COVID-19 Delta variant rapidly rising". news.miami.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
21. WBRZ. "First cases of COVID Lambda variant reported in North Louisiana". WBRZ. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
22. "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.
23. Garcia, Ma. Angelica (August 15, 2021). "First lambda variant case detected in the Philippines". GMA News. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
24. "GISAID - hCov19 Variants". www.gisaid.org. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
25. 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.