The study found that the COVID-19 mutation is more contagious but not fatal

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Thousands of patients on the Houston Metro have tested positive for Covid-19. Since March, the Houston Methodist and his researchers have used samples of those positive patients to detect the virus over time.

They examined two waves of the virus. The first wave was from March to mid-May and the second wave started after Memorial Day.

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The researchers observed a change from the first wave compared to the second wave, and the second wave showed that it was more contagious.

“That mutation helps spread the virus faster,” said Dr. John H. Snyder, president of pathology at Houston Methodist Hospital and a director of genomics medicine. Jim Masher said.

While the virus can spread rapidly, the mutation is no more fatal than before.

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“The spike results in a mutation in the protein, an increase in the amount of virus in the upper respiratory tract and it may help it to spread faster, but it does not appear to cause a bad disease, or to invade better,” said Dr. Masher

Dr Musser said the study examined more than 5,000,000 samples of the virus, making it the largest transformational study in the metropolitan area. He said it is serious to detect and observe mutations in the virus.

“Our enemy, to get as much information as possible about this virus,” Dr. Masher said.

Dr .. David Percy said with the health officer for the Houston Health Department that virus mutations are common. That’s one of the reasons we get the flu shot every year.

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David. “The virus basically hijacks the genetic system of cells and begins to make many replicas of itself. Each time it replicates itself, it runs the risk of making a mistake that could later change,” David said. . Said David. Person.

For many mutations, you don’t even notice a change in the virus. However, in this case, the mutation shows that the virus is more contagious, if the severity becomes more severe due to the larger mutation. “We have more reasons to stop the virus from spreading because every time someone gets it, the chances of change are higher,” said Dr. Percy.

“Every time someone gets infected there are thousands, if not hundreds, millions of chances of another change, so we don’t want that,” said Pers. Said Purse.

He says we need to wear our masks and social distance more.

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