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1. What do we know about the “English” variant?
The new strain of Sars-CoV-2, named “VUI-202012/01” (variant under investigation) was first identified in mid-September in London and Kent, a county southeast of the capital. In these areas, from being a minority, it became predominant in little more than two months. Has several mutations, including the main one (N501Y) at the protein level spike, which the virus uses to bind to human cells through the ACE2 receptor. A potentially worrisome aspect, because all available or future vaccines aim to induce the production of neutralizing antibodies against spike. However, much of the scientific community considers it unlikely that vaccines will prove ineffective against the new strain of Sars-CoV-2.
2. Why have many countries, including Italy, suspended flights from Great Britain?
From the first observations it seems that the new variant has a higher replicative efficiency compared to the previous ones, that is, it can spread more quickly. This is not to say that it is more lethal, but British Health Minister Matt Hancock admitted that the situation in the country is “out of control”. The World Health Organization spoke of “preliminary signs that indicate that the virus is able to spread more easily between people and may affect the performance of some diagnostic tests.”
3. What are the main variants observed since the beginning of the pandemic?
The “D614G»It appeared in Italy between February and March and in June it was present worldwide, with a faster transmission than the virus originating from Wuhan, China. A second variant (called «20A.EU1») It appeared in June in northeastern Spain and quickly spread to the rest of Europe, contributing to the second wave. In early November, a new strain was identified in some mink farms in Denmark (mutation ‘Y453F»): The infection was likely transmitted to animals by humans and by mink relayed to agricultural workers with the new mutation. 17 million animals died to eliminate the reservoir and prevent further transmission to humans, which affected a thousand people. “Sars-CoV-2 is a large RNA virus, consisting of about 30 thousand bases (nucleotides) – clarifies Massimo galli, Head of Infectious Diseases at Hospital Sacco -. One characteristic of RNA viruses is that they do not replicate precisely: each new copy can have randomly determined mutations. If the new mutation favors the virus over the host, has a competitive advantage over existing strains, it may become as dominant as the last reported in Britain appears to be.
4. Could new studies of Covid vaccines be necessary?
No, the vaccine process is progressing as planned. “The virus mutates more when it replicates a lot. That is why the appearance of the English strain should lead to an acceleration of vaccination campaigns, accompanied by research on the actual production of antibodies – he argues Carlo Federico Bolt, Director of the Microbiology Unit of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome -. It is possible to study the efficacy of the vaccines in the variant also in the laboratory, but I think it is more useful at this time to focus on immunization programs.as there is no evidence that the modified virus is less sensitive to the vaccine. Of course, if vaccinated people were to become infected with the new Sars-CoV-2 strain, we would be facing bad news, but today there is no reason to believe this will happen».
5. The first positive patient for the variant was identified yesterday in Rome. Is there a network of laboratories in Italy that can sequence the virus?
“Yes, but you need support, stresses Massimo galli -. In Great Britain, the Covid-19 Genomics Consortium, which includes the country’s leading universities, was funded with £ 20 million and was able to carry out more than 50,000 coronavirus genomic sequences, allowing among other things to identify this variant, while in Italy the laboratories have not received significant support. In Italy, research is little considered even when it would serve, as in this case, to provide immediate responses to control a pandemic.
(Massimo Galli, Head of Infectious Diseases at the Sacco Hospital in Milan, and Carlo Federico Perno, Director of the Microbiology Unit at the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome collaborated)
December 21, 2020 (change December 21, 2020 | 07:23)
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