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In Italy, reports of the so-called “English variant” of the SARS-CoV-2 which would produce an effect of greater contagion but not greater lethality, and would be covered by the vaccine. Six cases have been discovered Naples, in travelers returning from London, four in Veneto, two in Lombardy, a second case was isolated in Puglia and another in the province of Chieti.
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Naples, six cases of return from London
The six cases detected in Naples were found by researchers from the genomic sequencing group coordinated by Davide Cacchiarelli at the Telethon Institute for Genetics and Medicine in Pozzuoli (Tigem). The six swabs came from travelers returning from London, registered in recent days at Capodichino airport before the suspension of flights from the United Kingdom. The researchers determined the complete sequence of the viral genome in 115 positive swabs made in recent months in Campania by the Zooprophylactic Institute. In addition to the six English cases, eight different variants were identified in the rest of the samples analyzed, all belonging to “type B”, very widespread in Europe.
Veneto, four cases of English variant
In Veneto, 5 patient samples were identified that had a connection to the United Kingdom, therefore suspected of being carriers of this variant: of these, 3 tested positive for the variant, two in Treviso, one in Vicenza. All three cases were discovered on Christmas Eve. Another case in Arsago Seprio, a town of 5,000 inhabitants in the province of Varese, of an employee of a UK airline. He is isolated and has not had contact with other people, reports Mayor Fabio Montagnoli. But Veneto is also struggling with two variants currently identified only in Veneto, out of the 8 circulating in the region. In November, explains Antonia Ricci, director of the Venice Zooprophylactic Institute, “we had identified 37 viruses circulating in Veneto; Among these 8 variants of Sars-Cov-2, not yet the English variant, but two variants that are not yet found in the rest of Italy. We will have to better investigate these territorial variants.
Lombardy, cases land in Malpensa
In Lombardy, the first two cases of the English variant belong to two Italian citizens who landed in Malpensa in the last days – exactly on December 23 and 24. The two events are independent of each other and are in no way related to an outbreak, says the direction of the San Matteo de Pavia Polyclinic Foundation, where the analyzes were carried out in the Molecular Virology laboratories.
The curve in Italy
All the details that weigh in the reading of the epidemiological curve and in future swab analysis. “From now on, the diagnostic answer that we will have to give to a person who performs the swab will not only be whether SARS-CoV-2 is present or not, but which variant it is,” says Andrea Ballabio, director of the Tigem and coordinator of the research project on Covid19 funded by the Campania Region. “At the level of cases, in Italy we had – explains the mathematician Giovanni Sebastiani from the Institute of Calculus Applications of the National Research Council (Cnr-Iac) – the peak in mid-November and the number of deaths about 15 days later.
The flattening of the cases began around December 10 and I expect the same for that of the deaths from these days, as confirmed also by a suitable mathematical model. If this were not the case, this could be determined by several factors, including the English variant that could have affected the youngest but not the weakest, which affects deaths ”. These are “still critical days when it comes to Covid-19 deaths in Italy, after the average drop below 500 per day at Christmas as expected, now I expect a flattening of the curve and next week will be observed carefully”.
Last Updated: December 27 at 12:08 AM M.
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