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British epidemiologists found the new mutation in the coronavirus when investigating the reason for the increase in cases in the southeastern part of England despite imposed restrictions that controlled the spread in other parts of the country.
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Public health officials who were looking for the reason for the increase initially assumed that an event of over-spread or negligent patterns of behavior such as ignoring social distancing rules, illegal house parties, etc., had caused the rapid increase in cases in the area. , according to Wall Street. Daily.
It was on December 8 that the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) group of scientists that collects, monitors and researches the virus discovered the new variant with 23 mutations, in a test of a patient from Kent, near the center of the outbreak in late September, which consequently led the world to isolate the UK. The same variant was also found in a sample tested in London a day later, WSJ reported. These new mutations were found to have increased the transmissibility of the virus.
While researchers have said that the virus has mutated numerous times since the start of spread in 2019, WSJ said the variant has caused global concerns specifically due to the increased number of mutations that affected the code of the amino acid responsible for producing proteins. constituting the virus.
The new variant may help the virus infect people more efficiently, as two of the mutations affect the spike protein of the virus that makes it easier to adhere to the human cell wall and enter the body.
The mutation had caused global concerns at a time when vaccines are being rolled out for emergency use in many parts of the world, as scientists say the nature and number of mutations are unprecedented.
British officials in recent weeks have been clandestinely searching for patient zero. They have been through the contacts of two people identified early as carriers of the variant, neither of whom was ill, including others previously infected. The hypothesis around patient zero is that the variant must have been born of his weak immune system. The compromised and deficient immune system is primarily the best place for the virus to evolve with high mutations, as it can survive in such an environment for a longer period of time, WSJ reported.
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“In an ideal situation, you would know who the index case was,” WSJ told Sharon Peacock, a microbiologist who leads the University of Cambridge genomics team. UK or if it has been introduced, we are categorically unable to say at this time. “
Concerns about the new virus were made public on December 14 when Health Secretary Matt Hancock informed lawmakers that the new variant was responsible for 1,000 cases in London and the south-east of England. Hancock had said: “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than existing variants,” Reuters reported.
