Swiss krone study – researchers find Basel Covid-19 mutation – News

The new study shows how the virus spreads and aims to help fight its spread.

The coronavirus can change with each transmission. Mutates. In a unique study in the world, The link opens in a new window The Basel researchers have broken down information on the genetic makeup of viruses. They even discovered a specific Basel variant of Covid-19. This is knowledge that can be useful in the fight against the pandemic.

Worldwide: 90 different virus lines

The team led by Basel researcher Adrian Egli has deciphered the genetic makeup of the viruses of 500 patients. It is the only study in the world that examines coronavirus mutations within a city with such precision.

SRF Science Editor Katrin Zöfel on the benefits of the study

Open the text boxClose text box

These studies help to understand how the virus behaves in the real world. Because, even if much more is known than in February, there are still many unanswered questions: for example, where do infections occur that contact tracing cannot clear up? How much did that measure contribute? Where was the virus transported from, in Switzerland, in Europe, around the world?

Studies like the one in Basel can track the ways in which the virus spreads around the world, but they can also show in very small details how the virus behaves in Basel. And with that you can help clarify these issues.

Mutated viruses are still just as dangerous

Every virus mutates, all the time. Until now, however, these have only been mutations that help researchers differentiate between individual strains. However, important properties of the virus, such as its outer shell, how easily it infects people, or the severity of its illness, hardly change.

So far there is no evidence that the known Corona variants are more dangerous than the tribes originally brought from Wuhan.

Almost no impact on possible vaccination.

So far, it does not appear that mutations in the coronavirus are relevant to vaccine development. The virus also mutates relatively slowly. But one cannot be absolutely sure that mutations will not hamper future vaccine development.

Adrian Egli, who works at the University of Basel and the Basel University Hospital, compared this information with international data. “We want to understand what paths the virus is taking and how it got to Basel.” And changes in the genetic makeup of viruses can provide clues. Because there are already around 90 different lines of development of the virus around the world. Egli’s team identified one of them as a local mutation: the Basel variant of Covid-19.

Egli’s data show that around two-thirds of patients who tested positive in Basel were infected with this specific mutation. “This variant was created right at the beginning of the wave in March and then quickly spread. We suspect that the origin was a superpropagation event in Alsace, ”says microbiologist Egli.

This specific variant of Basel then presumably spread locally within families and groups of friends, Egli says. “In this area, the concept of protection has weaknesses and the authorities can only carry out some controls.” Egli is convinced that these findings would help better understand how the virus spreads.

“The study can point to blind spots in pandemic measures. It shows where we need to do more. ”In hindsight, for example, it was the right decision to cancel major local events like Carnival, Egli says.

Where did the other third get infected?

The precision with which Egli and his team can trace the origin of Covid cases in Basel is surprising. ‘Apart from the Basler mutation, the vast majority of viruses originate from northern Italy. We have also identified tribes from England, Spain and even Australia and Uruguay. “That is a reflection of how interconnected Basel is internationally.

And this internationality also means that Basel has not only “imported” the virus, but has also “exported” it: the Basel Corona variant can already be detected as far as Canada.