20 cases of Indian coronavirus in Sweden

The coronavirus variant that was discovered in India in October last year has soon become the dominant variant in India, and has also been linked to the recent sharp increase in infections in the country. At the same time, the variable has caused concern in recent weeks in the UK, where the number of confirmed cases in just under two weeks has risen from 500 to more than 2,000.

Question marks remain surrounding the Indian variant, but experts in the UK suspect it is more contagious than the coronavirus variant that was discovered in the UK in September last year and is now the dominant variant in Sweden, among other places.

Joakim Dillner, a professor of infection epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet, is concerned about the spread of the Indian species.

“I think it’s pretty clear that it’s worse than the British alternative, so it’s more likely to take over if nothing significant happens in terms of improving infection control or improving immunity,” he says.

The World Health Organization, the World Health Organization, has classified the Indian variant as a concern because it appears to be more contagious, while vaccines developed against Covid-19 are still effective.

Twenty cases were found In Sweden in different regions and is reported from week 12 until week 17 incl. The majority have travel contact to India, but in five cases, which are still under investigation, the Swedish Public Health Agency sees no direct travel connection.

We have no indication of any widespread infection from these cases, says Karin Tegmark Wiesel, chief of the Public Health Agency’s division.

For now, Karin Tegmark Wisell believes they see no trend for any particular increase in the prevalence of the Indian variant in Sweden, however, she believes that the number of cases is likely to increase over time as the Indian virus is now spreading globally. However, she does not consider it necessary to impose stricter restrictions.

– We are currently evaluating that the measures we implement prevent the spread of infection in this variant as well. But we’ll have to go on and see if the presence of this variable, for example, will make us have to stick to certain procedures for longer than we see now, she says.

This is Berglund
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