The newly detected Mu variant, first identified in Colombia, should not be a reason for alarm in the Philippines, the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) said Thursday, Sept. 2.
In its weekly epidemiological update published on Aug. 31, the World Health Organization warned that the Mu variant is becoming increasingly prevalent in Colombia and Ecuador.
WHO also noted that the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines.
However, PCG Executive Director Cynthia Saloma is not sounding any alarms about Mu variant yet.
"In terms of this Mu variant there are some concerning mutations, which are also similar to what we have seen for the Alpha and Beta so these are still under investigation and we're closely following it up," Saloma said in a virtual forum.
Citing a report from Public Health England, Saloma said patients in England who got infected with the Mu variant are in their 20s.
"I've been looking at our database, I think either we have one or we have not yet seen one yet. Should this be a concern for now? Not yet. We have not been associating this new variant with any local spike in new cases," she noted.
Mu was first detected in Colombia in January 2021 and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and outbreaks in South America and Europe, WHO said.