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Another variant of the coronavirus with a potentially worrisome set of mutations has been detected in 10 countries, including the UK.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said the variant, known as B1525, has been detected by genome sequencing in countries such as Denmark, the United States and Australia. So far 32 cases have been identified in the UK.
The first sequences date back to December and emerged in the UK and Nigeria, the scientists said.
The team reported that the variant has similarities in its genome to Kent’s variant, B117, and contains a number of concerning mutations, including the E484K mutation in the spike protein, which is found on the outside of the virus and plays a role. important to help you. enter the cells.
This mutation is present in variants that emerged in South Africa and Brazil and is believed to make the virus better able to evade neutralizing antibodies produced by the body.
Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, said that while it was unclear what effect many of the mutations may have on the ability of the coronavirus to establish infection or on the severity of the disease, the Presence of The E484K mutation in the South African variant was known to confer some degree of resistance to some vaccines.
“We still don’t know how well [new] the variant will spread, but if it is successful, it can be assumed that immunity from any previous vaccines or infection will be weakened, “he said.
Surge test
Dr Clarke added that the new variant should be included in efforts to push testing for variants of concern: “I think until we know more about these variants, any variant carrying E484K should be subject to surge testing, as it appears. confer resistance to immunity, regardless of how it is generated. “
Surge testing is the launch of additional community tests of people who have no coronavirus symptoms, with the goal of helping scientists learn more about the different variants of Covid-19.
Professor Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, agreed that surge testing was warranted for the new variant. He said that in addition to the E484K mutation, the variant had another change “that probably helps it escape our antibodies.”
But Professor Jonathan Stoye, a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, said that while the variant was clearly spreading, the augmentation tests had problems, including that those most at risk of spreading Covid may not show up, for example, because they can’t afford it financially. positive test.
Professor Stoye said it was not surprising that the new variant contained some familiar mutations. “The moment you start pushing for selection for this virus, you start to particularly select for the things that give it the ability to escape immune responses, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here,” he said.
Vaccine adjustments
But the discovery that several variants of interest share the same mutations means that adjustments to current Covid vaccines would be expected to offer protection against multiple new variants. “This [E484K] the change seems to be the key change at the moment to allow escape, so that’s what is put into the modified vaccine, “said Professor Stoye.
Dr Lucy van Dorp, from the Institute of Genetics at University College London, said that rapid detection of new variants was crucial. “One of the main advantages of genomic surveillance is to detect lineages of potential concern early, albeit still at a low frequency, to allow rapid assessment and evaluation of their impact and prevalence in other regions of the world,” he said. – Guardian
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