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The variant of the coronavirus, which first appeared in Britain, has also been detected in Germany for the first time.
The mutated variant B.1.1.7 was found on Thursday in a woman who entered Baden-Württemberg from Great Britain on December 20. This was announced by the Stuttgart Ministry of Health. The woman has mild symptoms and is in domestic isolation. Three close contacts are also in quarantine, he said.
The woman had flown from London Heathrow to Frankfurt am Main to visit relatives in the Freudenstadt district. “A quick test of all passengers for Sars-CoV-2 was carried out at the airport upon entry, which was positive for the person in question,” said a ministry spokesman. She was later picked up by relatives in a car.
“To confirm the diagnosis, a PCR test was performed on December 21, 2020, which was also positive.” Close contacts have not yet gotten sick. A smear test of contact persons was started.
Great Britain sequences much more than Germany
The first known sample in which the sequence of the B.1.1.7 virus could be found was taken on September 20 in the English county of Kent. According to the authorities, on December 15, 1,623 genomes of the B.1.1.7 line were known in Great Britain. In addition to Kent, the London metropolitan area is particularly affected by the outbreaks. In many places, the line is now more common than the previous forms.
It is quite normal for viruses to mutate. There are also numerous variants of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. Unlike its predecessors, the line, which was initially detected in Britain, worries researchers because it is associated with a very rapid increase in the number of infections.
Experts now assume that the new line will increase portability “with a high degree of certainty.” “Unfortunately, that does not look good,” Berlin virologist Christian Drosten tweeted on Tuesday after new data emerged on the infectivity of the new pathogen.
However, Drosten wrote that it was “positive” that cases with the mutant only increased in areas where the overall incidence was high or increasing. “Contact reduction also works against the spread of the mutant.”
The new variant of the virus had also previously been detected in other European countries, such as Denmark and the Netherlands. Therefore, experts assumed from the beginning that Germany could already be affected.
Very few virus genomes are accurately analyzed in this country. Therefore, the new Sars-CoV-2 lines can be more easily extended without being noticed.
Michael Hölscher, director of the Tropical Institute at the Munich University Clinic, told SPIEGEL on Monday that genetic sequencing was carried out in about 0.5 percent of the samples that tested positive in Germany. In the UK, on the other hand, the NHS routinely carries out gene sequencing in large numbers.
Many questions remain open
However, researchers still don’t know exactly how much more contagious the new virus line is. They currently assume that the R-value, that is, the number of people infected by one infected person, will increase between 0.5 and 0.7 as a result of the new virus line.
With a weekly average of around 25,000 new infections per day, as is currently the case in Germany, this would mean around 15,000 additional infected people per stage of infection. In the worst case, contacts would have to be further restricted to control the new virus line. So far, there is no indication that it triggers more serious courses.
The extent to which the over-propagation events contributed to the fact that the new line has been extended particularly in the UK is also still being debated.
Two mutations cause concern
The genome of the pathogen does not clearly indicate whether it has become more contagious. Two mutations could contribute to this, while another could have even reduced the infectivity of the virus.
Most of the discussion is about a mutation called N501Y in the so-called peak protein of the pathogen. Regardless of the evidence in Britain, scientists in South Africa recently discovered a virus line with the mutation, which also appears to spread faster. A study on this was released on Monday, but it has yet to be technically examined.
The coronavirus binds to human cells with the help of the spike protein, and thus can penetrate them. The N501Y genetic modification ensures that the connection between the virus and the human cell is more stable. Therefore, experts believe that it is conceivable that this mutation alone makes the virus more contagious.
A second mutation called 69-70del could also contribute to this. They eliminate information for the construction of two amino acids in the genome. Sars-CoV-2 coronaviruses with the genetic modification are suspected of particularly hard on patients with immunodeficiency.
Vaccination is likely to remain effective
Experts are confident that the mutations will not affect the effectiveness of corona vaccines. These aim to sharpen the immune system against the spike protein so that the antibodies render the pathogen harmless before it can attack human cells.
Since mutations only affect small parts of the protein’s genetic pattern, but the vaccine trains the immune system throughout the sequence, vaccines should continue to work.
Biontech and Pfizer have already successfully tested their vaccine, which is approved in the European Union, against several virus variants. Data should also be available soon for the new line.
It has not yet been proven that the new line of the pathogen is responsible for the increase in the number of infections in Germany. Experts continue to assume that the high activity of the people in the run-up to Christmas contributed to this.
