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Crisis staff members and top epidemiologists believe that the British strain of the corona virus has reached our country, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said. Confirmation also came from the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology at the Belgrade Faculty of Medicine.
– At the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology of the Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, this weekend a British strain of coronavirus was isolated in Serbia – said prof. Dr. Tanja Jovanović, who is part of the team of researchers sequencing the corona virus genome in Serbia.
It is also known how the British strain of the coronavirus arrived in Serbia: it was brought by a passenger from London, who tested negative for PCR. She had milder symptoms and her husband had more severe bilateral pneumonia.
When was it discovered?
A new strain of coronavirus was first discovered in September in the UK. Already in November, about a quarter of the cases in London were this new variation, while in December, the new strain reached almost two-thirds of the cases.
How did the new strain emerge?
A member of the crisis staff, virologist Tanja Jovanović, explained that in the case of a new strain, mutations accumulate within a viral isolate.
– All the mutations found in the British strain are found both in our isolates and in isolates from around the world, but only as individual mutations. What’s new about the British strain is that the mutations have accumulated within a viral isolate, Jovanović explained. The virologist claimed that the new strain originates from the infection of immunosuppressed people who had the infection for more than eight weeks, when in the individual body mutations have occurred in humans.
– Since these patients were immunosuppressed, they were under the selective pressure of the therapy and the therapy used in the treatment of these patients influenced the change in the characteristics of the virus – explained Jovanović.
How dangerous is the mutation?
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed yesterday that there is evidence that the new strain of coronavirus is not only up to 70% more contagious, but also more deadly.
The British government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Valence, explained how they came to this statement: if 10 people die of infection for every 1,000 patients infected with the original strain of coronavirus, in case of infection with a new strain, that number could rise. at 13 or 14 These data have not yet been confirmed as further research is needed. In less than two months, the highly contagious British strain of the corona virus has been detected in 60 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this week.
What is the development of the disease like?
Are the symptoms and even the course of the illness caused by the British strain of the virus different? At the University of Southern California, scientists have identified the sequence of symptoms and how they develop.
The scientists analyzed the incidence rates of symptoms collected by the WHO of more than 55,000 thousand confirmed cases of kovid 19. Their findings indicate that the symptoms are in the following order: Fever Cough and muscle aches Nausea and vomiting Diarrhea
Are existing vaccines effective against the new strain?
Pascal Sorio, CEO of AstraZeneca, a company that makes the Oxford vaccine against kovid 19, said in late December that the company’s vaccine was also effective against a new strain of coronavirus discovered in the UK.
Four days ago, it was announced that the corona virus vaccine, developed by Pfizer and Biontek, probably also protects against the most contagious strain of the corona virus, which was discovered in Britain and spread across the world. This is demonstrated by the results of the latest Biontek laboratory tests, which were published on January 20.
Could we have avoided the new strain?
In short, no. About ten days ago, the epidemiologist Dr. Predrag Kon spoke about it: – It’s hard to believe that if it spreads across Europe, it won’t reach us either.
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