As long as we cannot rule out that a rapidly spreading mutation will not affect treatment options or even the effectiveness of vaccines that will arrive in the coming weeks, it is understandable caution, the Pécs virologists write on their Facebook page.

Coronavirus: the second wave, the second closure

Later than expected by many, but in mid-November, the Hungarian government also decided to try to curb the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic by introducing restrictions. At the time of the decision, 5,000 new infections had been identified per day and the number of deaths from the virus mostly ranged from 50 to 100 in 24 hours. The first step is a partial closure, but how effective it is is questionable. Follow our news!

The Virology Pécs Facebook page created by the Pécs virologists (Gábor Kemenesi and Ferenc Jakab) published a post about the coronavirus mutation on the Facebook page.

The entry begins with “mutation is one of the main drivers of evolution and therefore the evolution of viruses.” With the coronavirus this is no different, some are surprisingly spreading and becoming dominant over time, such is now the D614G variant, which was created in the first wave and is already dominant across the planet.

Mutations that affect function are very rare, but keep in mind that the more infections a virus has, the more likely it is. Mutations that alter function always satisfy the greatest evolutionary need, which can be better propagated, better silenced immune responses, antibody evasion, etc.

Therefore, it is understood that if the virus is in the interest of milder disease, longer infection, and increased excretion, it will survive more efficiently and go further.

This is not to say that there cannot be mutations that can cause headaches in treatment, vaccine cases or spread, they write in a Facebook post, so it is very important to constantly study genetic changes in the virus. Scientific research has been going on for some time, including D614G, in recent weeks with the first convincing lab results supporting its ability to multiply in the upper respiratory tract. The good news is that the antibodies of the previous variant also protect against this.

The problem is that there is an identifiable mutation in the spike protein that underlies the vast majority of vaccines, which is important for immunity and even spreads rapidly.

This was the case with the English variant. Compared to the virus mutation rate known so far, a variant has emerged that has accumulated 10 months of mutations of which the spike protein has been affected at various points.

The question has arisen as to why borders should be closed for this reason (several countries have banned aircraft in Britain and strict restrictions have been introduced in and around London).

Experts explain that risk again means “we don’t know.” “While we cannot rule out that a well-spreading mutation will not affect treatment options or even the effectiveness of vaccines to be released in the coming weeks, it is understandable that caution is being exercised,” the experts write.

[Pécsi virológusok megmutatták, milyen mellékhatásai lehetnek a Pfizer/BioNTech vakcinának]

The real risk can be judged at the end of extensive laboratory tests, until then, caution is essential. The main question is whether the acquired immunity to other variants is affected by the new one.

If you want to know similar things at other times, you will like the HVG Tech Facebook page, which also offers scientific news.



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