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Probably more widespread. maybe more contagious. But, at least apparently, it is no longer dangerous the “resistant” there vaccinations recently developed. There “English” variant of the virus SARS-CoV-2 It might be less scary than expected. In fact, there are currently no scientific evidence that justify the “nicknames” of “super Covid” or “mutant Covid” with which the media have renamed the new variant identified in the southeast of England. The truth is that we know very little about this English variant: it was sequenced for the first time in UK at the end of September and has 17 mutations which can affect the shape of the virus, including protein spike, the key by which the virus enters cells. Many of these mutations have been found in other viruses before, but it is unusual to have so many in a single virus.
“In general, there is nothing surprising in having found a variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus,” he explains. Giovanni maga, director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the National Research Council (Cnr-Igm). The new coronavirus, in fact, is in constant evolution and there are many variants with one or more mutations. TO July, according to scientists’ reports, there were already at least 12 thousand “mutants”. Now the number of mutations will be higher, although many of them are rare. There are tens of thousands of mutations that are differentiated from each other by at least one mutation in the genome. But any two Sars-CoV-2 coronaviruses differ by fewer than 30 mutations and are all considered to belong to the same strain.
The unusual thing of this new English variant is the speed with which it is spreading. On December 13 they had been identified 1100 almost with this variant, mainly in the south of England, which is a lot because only a small percentage of the viral samples are sequenced. “And the growth rate to worry, “he says Nick loman from the University of Birmingham in the UK, which is part of a team that monitored and sequenced new variants of the new coronavirus. “We are seeing growth very fast“, He adds.
It appears to spread faster than other strains in the same regions, but why is not yet clear. Some coronaviruses spread more than others to pure case. For now, there is no clear evidence that this spread is due to particular mutations. To understand how concerned we should be, it will be necessary further studies, a combination of additional monitoring and searches laboratory with the objective of examining the effect of the particular mutations present in this variant. But until now, no mutation has been definitively associated with a type of Sars-CoV-2 more transmissible OR more dangerous. According to scientists, how we behave is much more important than any other virus change. In other words, measures such as the use of masks and social distancing are the factors that most they make the difference.
We don’t even know if this variant is related to a shape. more serious of Covid-19. To find out, we would have to identify many people who have become ill after being infected with this specific variant and monitor them for at least a month. But at the moment there is no reason to think that. Mutations that make viruses more infectious do not necessarily make them more dangerous. Likewise, we do not know if this new variant could evade the protection conferred by new vaccines. There is currently no evidence that it goes in this direction. “The reason why this variant has been the object of attention -explains Maga- is that some of the modifications of its genetic instructions concern the region that serves to express the ‘peak’ protein which, in addition to allowing the virus to enter cells, it is also the main component of vaccines. “However, Maga points out that” there are still no published data and therefore it is almost impossible to make precise assessments. But from what appears, it does not seem that this variant is more dangerous than the others and it is not certain that these mutations really have the advantage of making it spread faster than others ”, he explains.
“Of course you will have to wait for results of the scientific evidence – Maga continues – but we know that vaccines contain all the peak protein, that when it enters our body it tears and each one of them can work to induce antibodies. So is very difficult that changes in just a portion of the protein can cause a full resistance vaccines. “According to the expert, therefore, for now” there is nothing surprising in having found a variant, it is not the first to be found and there is no evidence that this variant is worse. Nor is there reliable data that can be more infectious and is highly appreciated. unlikely that the vaccine may have difficulty to induce a protective response also against this variant precisely because the vaccine uses a protein that also has highly conserved regions, which do not change. For which no alarm”.
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