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An analysis of the University of Basel, the Federal Polytechnic School of Zurich and the Spanish consortium SeqCOVID-Spain, led by the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC), revealed this Thursday that A new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has spread across Europe and other regions in recent months from Spain.
The researchers named this mutation “20A.EU1” and its presence was confirmed in 80 percent of the samples analyzed from Spain, 90 percent of those from the United Kingdom, and 30-40 percent of the Swiss.
And although in their work the scientists qualified that this variant of the coronavirus It is not more dangerous than others, it may not have a different behavior or be the only one prevalent in the second European wave, where other mutations have been identified, it is worth delving into this finding.
In general, it is assumed that the mutation of viruses makes them more dangerous and the truth is that these genetic changes are very common, as explained by Carlos Álvarez, infectologist and national coordinator of covid-19 studies for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
(Read also: ‘We are still in the first wave of the pandemic’)
In fact, he states that the alterations do not usually have an effect on his behavior, so a mutation is very unlikely to make them more aggressive.
The same happens with SARS-CoV-2, which various investigations have already found changes in his genetic fingerprint, such as the one found in Spain. “These may sound alarming because of the bad reputation of mutations, but they are not,” says the expert.
Álvarez insists that these phenomena are “common, normal and expected to be found”, and more so in RNA-type viruses (such as influenza, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2). In this sense, he affirms that researchers understand that this can happen and have been alert, so much so that since it is the most studied virus so far The coronavirus has been shown to mutate even less than other viruses.
And it clarifies that these natural modifications of the virus do not affect the development of vaccines and neither the way to face the pandemic in general. Or in other words, “it does not mean that for each mutation there has to be a vaccine or a treatment for each one “, finishes Álvarez.
(You may be interested: 30,000 deaths from covid-19 in Colombia: X-ray of a tragedy)
About the vaccine
Precisely from the information that emerged this Thursday, the main author of said study affirmed this Friday that the new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in Spain will not have any negative impact on the development of a vaccine.
“We think that the mutation will not affect the efficacy of the vaccine,” said scientist Emma Hodcroft, from the Swiss University of Basel, the institution that led the research. As explained, the vaccine targets specific parts of the virus that are not affected by the mutation.
His statement is important because dozens of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are in various stages of research and development of vaccine candidates, with a dozen of them being massively tested to determine their efficacy and level of safety.
In that sense, he insisted that the genetic change suffered by the new variant of the coronavirus it has neither increased its ability to spread nor its severity. “It is very important to clarify that there is no evidence that the mutation is the cause of the spread of this variant and rather we think that it has to do with travel, “said Hodcroft.
(See: Is a new quarantine possible in Colombia?)
“Cases increased again in Spain much earlier than in most European countries, with the exception of Belgium, and this coincides with the time when travel resumed,” he added.
The fact that few countries made negative recent test results a condition for travel and that people were trusted to voluntarily quarantine may have been the greatest weaknesses of the prevention measures that were being adopted then.
The authors of the study think that the Spanish variant is not responsible for the second wave of the pandemic that Europe suffers, it is rather the fact that governments have taken belated action as autumn approaches, a season that lends itself to the transmission of viruses. “People hang out with others indoors, close their doors, reduce ventilation and turn on heaters, all of which allow the virus to travel more easily in the air,” Hodcroft explained.
(Keep reading: Follow, day by day, all the key indicators of covid-19 in Colombia)
The expert added that it is normal for viruses to mutate frequently and, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, which causes covid-19, this occurs about twice a month. “This is perfectly normal, there is nothing to be alarmed about. In fact, SARS-CoV-2 is a very stable virus. What we want to convey is that even if there are mutations, this does not change the structure of the virus or how it works,” Hodcroft stressed.
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