[ad_1]
- The latest coronavirus update in Spain shows something that worries scientists and researchers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The virus appears to be mutating in a way that facilitates contraction, although it does not appear to have affected the lethality of the virus.
- According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 45 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the pandemic began.
According to the latest coronavirus updates researchers have been studying, there is a growing sense that the COVID-19 coronavirus that is sweeping the US and the rest of the world right now is not standing still. Which, in fact, has the ability to change and mutate in different strains, which has several implications for immunity and for fighting the pandemic through the most important weapon of a vaccine.
Consequently, researchers from European nations such as Spain and Switzerland report that a new strain of coronavirus has been detected on the continent there, and it could very well end up in America. Researchers in a non-peer-reviewed study explain how the virus was genetically transformed into a new variant that spread across Europe this summer after originating in Spain.
“A variant of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in the early summer of 2020, presumably in Spain, and has since spread to several European countries,” say the researchers about this variant, which is identified as 20A.EU1. It was first detected in June and has been reported with frequencies of around 40% since July.
Beyond Spain, the researchers continue, “the frequency of this variant has increased from very low values before July 15 to 40-70% in Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom in September. It is also prevalent in Norway, Latvia, the Netherlands, and France. ”It is important to note that these researchers found no evidence that the new COVID-19 strain spreads faster than other variants of the pathogen.
This is a phenomenon that researchers are watching closely, and something that a group of scientists in Houston published this study about in September after analyzing some 5,000 different genetic sequences from the COVID-19 coronavirus. Simply put, it appears that the mutations so far have made it easier to contract the virus and thus the most contagious virus, but it does not appear any less deadly in these new strains.
“Much of the diversity of this cluster in Spain is observed throughout Europe,” the researchers write about the Spanish variant. “Currently it is not clear if this variant is spreading due to an advantage of transmission of the virus or if the high incidence in Spain followed by the spread through tourists is enough to explain the rapid increase in several countries.”
David Morens, a virologist who works with Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said The Washington Post in September that it is certainly possible that once population level immunity is high enough, COVID-19 may still find a way to end our immunity.
Andy is a reporter from Memphis who also contributes to outlets like Fast Company and The Guardian. When he’s not writing about technology, he can be found hunched over protectively over his burgeoning vinyl collection, as well as minding his whovianism and choking on a variety of TV shows he probably doesn’t like.
[ad_2]
