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The “English” variant of the coronavirus appears to cast a new mosaic of pessimism over this turbulent 2020. Will it be more lethal? Will it render the vaccines we are already using ineffective? For now we do not have a definitive answer to these questions, we only know that the mutation could be more highly infectious and this is already bad news. But let’s take a step back: December 14 British Health Minister Matt Hancock announces: “A new variant of the coronavirus has been identified that could be associated with its more rapid spread.” The cases appeared to be located mainly in the south of England. On December 19, at a joint press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chris Whitty, head of the Health Authority, says there is no evidence that the mutated virus could be more lethal or make vaccines less effective. However, the prime minister announces a harsh blockade for the capital and neighboring counties, because the risk of getting sick increases exponentially. More restrictive measures have also been decided for the Christmas period in Wales and Scotland.
The strain appeared in September
The “bomb” has exploded, along with fear, but it is necessary to keep our feet on the ground and stop at what we know for sure. Based on initial observations, the new variant could have a transmission capacity 70% higher than that currently in circulation. But studies are ongoing (here an analysis published in preprint in BioRxiv) and are carried out in full collaboration with international health authorities, starting with the World Health Organization (WHO). “We are in close contact with UK officials about the virus variant – read the WHO Twitter profile -. They will continue to share information and results of their ongoing analyzes and studies. We will update Member States and the public as we learn more about the characteristics of this variant and its implications. ” The new strain of Sars-Cov-2 would appear in mid-September in London and Kent. and in little more than two months it became dominant in the English capital. As of December 9, the variant was present in 62% of cases in London, 59% in the east of England and 43% in the south-east, according to Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser. “Viruses are constantly mutating. This is a particular constellation of variations that we think is important -Explained Vallance-, we think it could be present in other countries, but in the United Kingdom there is a concentration. It could have originated here, we don’t know for sure. Meanwhile, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to ban all flights from the UK. Other countries, including France and Germany, are considering blocking flights.
Replicative efficiency
“That” English “is not the first mutation of the coronavirus that we are witnessing – underlines the Messenger Service Carlo Federico Perno, director of the Microbiology Unit of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome -. Think of the “D614G”, which appeared in Italy also in March and in June became dominant worldwide. Other variants have also been described, in South Africa and the Far East. However, we know that Sars-CoV-2 is a fairly stable virus (as evidenced by work we published in Nature), can change, but only within a well-defined “enclosure”. On the contrary, a vaccine has not yet been developed for the HIV and HCV viruses, as they have unlimited mutant capacity. The vast majority of the variations promulgated by the coronavirus (relevant to viral replication capacity) refer to the protein spike, thanks to which it binds to human cells through the ACE2 receptor. “The virus tries to escape the attack of our immune system, creating” invisible “variants of antibodies – continues Perno -, for this it must act on the spike. The ultimate goal, common to all viruses, is to improve their replicative efficiency.
Accelerate vaccines
The question that many are asking right now is: are anti-Covid vaccines also effective against the new strain? “The appearance of the mutation (named VUI-202012/01, ed) should lead to an acceleration of vaccination campaigns, accompanied by studies on the production of antibodies after the administration of the prescribed doses – says Perno -. It is possible to study the efficacy of vaccines on the variant also in the laboratory, through so-called “neutralizing tests”, but I think that at this moment it is more useful to focus on vaccination programs, then checking whether the antibodies the body produces are protective. We can have proof of this by observing whether vaccinated subjects will become infected with the new strain of Sars-CoV-2: if this happens, we will face bad news. For now, the “English” variant is coexisting with the one we knew and has not become predominantBut this could happen in the future: we still have the possibility to stop it with restrictive measures and, we hope, also with vaccines.
Asymptomatic infections
“A dozen variants have already been identified, we hoped that sooner or later one would begin to circulate – he adds Fabrizio Pregliasco, virologist at the University of Milan and health director of the Galeazzi Orthopedic Institute, in an interview withActed -. The variants are part of the adaptation of the virus to the host, this strain has found a more efficient aggression mechanism. It has greater contagion and therefore greater diffusion capacity. and this is what worries, but not surprising. The infectious capacity is the same ”. The impact of the new strain on the vaccine? “It is premature to think that it could have a negative effect on vaccination,” explains the expert. We must see where exactly are the genetic variations and how do they affect antibodies. These viruses replicate systematically, they do not correct for replication errors, which could be an advantageous feature. The peculiarity of the virus, even of this mutated one, which makes it perfidious, is that most infections are inapparent. However, it should be noted that compared to the past, our laboratories have a great capacity to monitor changes and the synchronization of information is much faster, state-of-the-art.
The protein “spike”
He is also optimistic Giovanni maga, director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the National Research Council. “We will have to wait for the results of the scientific tests, but we know that vaccines contain all protein spike, that when it enters our body it breaks into pieces: each one of them can act to induce the production of antibodies. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that modifications to a single portion of the protein could cause complete resistance to vaccines. There is nothing surprising in having found a variant, it is not the first and there is no evidence that it is worse. Maga added. The vaccine is considered highly unlikely to have difficulty inducing a protective response, precisely because it uses a protein that has very well conserved regions that do not change. So there is no alarm. “
December 20, 2020 (change December 20, 2020 | 14:36)
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