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PUNE: Laboratory studies carried out on 40 isolates of the H1N1 virus at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) here have categorically ruled

out any mutation of the virus in India.

“We have not found any mutation of the H1N1 virus so far. The throat swabs of those who died after developing severe complication were also studied, but no mutation of the virus was found,” NIV director A C Mishra told TOI on Monday.

The finding is significant as pharmaceutical companies will not have to bother, at least for now, about changing the vaccines that are being developed, he said.

“Unlike the H5N1 (avian flu) virus, which mutated substantially over a period of time, the influenza A H1N1 virus has not yet mutated. But unlike the H5N1, the H1N1 virus has high transmissibility,” the NIV director said.

Tracking the H1N1 virus is a part of an ongoing study at the NIV. “Any mutation in the H1N1 virus will be immediately communicated to the scientific community who are studying its behaviour and characteristics the world over,” Mishra said.

“A network of 140 laboratories all over the world are vigilantly tracking the virus for possible mutation. None of them have reported any mutation so far,” he added.

Elaborating on the mutation phenomenon in the influenza virus, microbiologist Siddhartha Dalvi said, “A mutation is defined as a change in the nucleotide composition of a gene. Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. The most commonly observed mutations in RNA viruses, like influenza virus, are point mutations, called so because only a single nucleotide changes in the entire gene.”