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London, December 20, 2020 – A new variant of Covid runs the risk of shutting down half the planet again. The alarm started from London, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson explained yesterday that this new variant of Sars-Cov-2 transmits 70% faster than acquaintances. What caused this mutation? What exactly has changed in the past few days and why has this discovery overshadowed the possibility of exiting the pandemic as quickly as possible? Let’s try to clarify a bit.
Strains of the coronavirus
It is not the first time that the Covid virus has changed and it won’t be the last. In recent days, a study published by an international team of 28 scientists led by Massimo Ciccozzi, head of the Unit for Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Bio-Medico Campus of the University of Rome revealed how in Italy since the pandemic broke out there have been 13 strains we have had to deal with. “The mutations – the experts explained – despite having affected the level of contagion, they do not modify the pathogenicity of the virus and therefore its ability to cause disease and kill. Simply put, each variant has its own transmission rate, but the fatality rate is similar. Half the good news, since it is precisely the speed of new infections that can undermine an entire national health system. Cases in the UK jumped 50% in a week, the new one registered today I remember contagion in 24 hours: almost 36 thousand.
The English variant
At present, very little is known about the virus mutation discovered in the UK. British specialists said that this new strain has already been found in a couple of other countries, but did not say which ones. A few hours later it was discovered that the a mutation had been detected in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. But the British government, which unsurprisingly immediately launched a new locdown for London and the southeast area of the country, is very concerned: 60% of the new infections in the English capital were caused by this new variant. Some preliminary studies claim that the mutated virus is rapidly replacing old strains that have existed for a long time in the country.
Covid variant: what the experts say. From Crisanti to Galli
The origins
According to various virologists and infectious diseases, the English strain shares a mutation with a variant discovered in recent months in South Africa and that it is causing a second explosive wave in the southern hemisphere. The WHO has estimated that the South African strain would be responsible for between 80 and 90% of new infections in the country. However, the scientists argue that the English and the South African would be two different strains.
What happens now
Experts agree that the new variant justifies additional and more severe restrictions, to try, together with the vaccination campaign, to eliminate all the mutations at the same time. “The more viruses circulate – explained Devi Sridhar, director of the global public health program at the University of Edinburgh – the easier it will be for more mutations to occur.”
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The effectiveness of vaccines.
UK government number one consultant Patrick Vallance said there is no evidence that this new strain is more lethal or more resistant to vaccinesi, but he admitted that scientists have identified 23 mutations in the variant, a number much higher than usual. Some of them directly involve the Spike protein, which the virus uses to bind to host cells and which can affect the degree of transmissibility. In addition, almost all vaccines that have been developed so far take advantage of the characteristics of the protein to neutralize Sars-Cov-2. So the mutations but at the moment it does not seem the case of the English strainIt could also make the serums less effective. “More than a variant, it is a family of variants. All mutations refer to the exposed region of the Spike protein, that is, the parts recognized by the antibodies. They are probably successful attempts by the viral strain to escape the antibodies of those who have developed immunity. and – explains Giorgio Gilestro, neurobiologist and associate professor at Imperial College London – they are immune, for example, to plasma therapy ”.
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