BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA AND ADRIAN STEWART CO
BACOLOD City – A 35-year-old unvaccinated pregnant woman in Valladolid, Negros Occidental is the country’s first case of the Lambda variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The symptomatic patient has already recovered, according to the Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development in Western Visayas yesterday.
Though with no travel history, the pregnant woman tested positive for COVID-19 in early July. A re-swab was performed two weeks after (July 16); she tested negative.
On July 22, as an admission protocol for women about to give birth at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in this city, the woman was swabbed.
She gave birth to a baby boy six hours later, and then came her reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result – positive for COVID-19.
Contact tracing was immediately conducted. The patient’s newborn was swabbed.
All close contacts including the baby tested negative for coronavirus, DOH said.
By July 26 the woman was discharged from the hospital and transferred to the quarantine facility in the town of E.B. Magalona.
Her swab sample was sent to the Philippine Genome Center on Aug. 2, and she was released from quarantine the following day, Aug. 3.
On Aug. 15, DOH Region 6 received endorsement from the Epidemiology Bureau indicating that the patient tested positive for the Lambda (C.37) variant.
After receiving the DOH report yesterday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the patient was re-swabbed, although they were not placing her residence on lockdown as she has already recovered.
The Lambda variant is classified a variant of interest (VOI) by the World Health Organization. First identified in Peru in August 2020, it has the potential to affect the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 and is currently being monitored for its possible clinical significance.
‘LAMBDA’ AND THE VACCINE
DOH Technical Advisory Group’s Dr. Edsel Salvana said there is yet no conclusive study whether COVID-19 vaccines can give immunity against the Lambda variant or not.
“Mukha po siyang may mga mutations na maaring makaapekto sa efficacy ng ating vaccines pero hindi pa po ito proven,” Salvana said at Malacañang’s virtual presser.
Dr. Nina Gloriani, chairperson of the vaccine expert panel, said more studies are needed to determine the effect of Lambda on COVID-19 vaccines.
“Until we see more data, kumpara sa Delta, Alpha, Beta na lampas sa 100 countries ang epektado, hindi pa siya ganoon ka-worrying,” she said. “Hanggang tuloy-tuloy ang transmission, maraming mutations ang mangyayari.”/PN
