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Treviso coordinates investigation based on suspicions and epidemiological findings: virus more aggressive than the first wave
VENEZIA. A mutated virus. More pathogenic and widespread than experienced in March and during the summer. Able to attack the pulmonary system more effectively and to replicate in accelerated times, to resist on external surfaces and to prolong the infectious cycle in the human body.
It is the scientific suspicion you are investigating the Veneto hospital microbiology network and dictate that they are not abstract theories but already documented laboratory findings. It is a possible interpretive key, perhaps useful to understand the scope and persistent spread of the infection in the regional territory.
Truly the first clues about the mutant nature of Covid date back to August, when the massive inspection of migrants hosted by “Serena” (the disused barracks in Treviso that had been converted into a reception center) highlighted some significant variations compared to the agents sequenced in the immediately preceding months.
But how would this affect the evolution of the pandemic? In this sense, it is worth mentioning the results of a new study carried out by a group of scientists from theUniversity of Texas at Austin and Houston Methodist Hospital, published in early November in mBIO magazine. The scientists worked on a sample of more than patients, creating a 3D map of the spike protein mutations. This made it possible to measure its stability and to observe the way in which the binding between the host cell receptor and neutralizing antibodies occurs.
“The virus is accumulating genetic mutations,” he reveals. Ilya Finkelstein, Research Coordinator , “And the change, which we have called D614G, may have made it more contagious. The pathogen is mutating due to a combination of neutral drift, which means random changes that do not harm the virus or put pressure on the immune system. Conclusion: «During the initial phase of the pandemic, 71% of the new coronaviruses had this mutation, while with the second wave, the prevalence reached 99.9 percent of patients. This is a trend that is observed throughout the world.
The circumstance, as mentioned, is from the care of our local microbiologists led by Roberto Rigoli, Treviso chief physician active in a department that includes pulmonology and infectious diseases, a circumstance that allows him to clinically verify the study hypotheses. The feeling is that we will know more very soon. –
