We are back in familiar territory: a growing concern about a new variant of the coronavirus.
The latest is the most mutated version discovered so far, and has such a long list of variations that one scientist described it as “horrible,” while another said it was the worst variant they had ever seen, James reported. Gallagher, BBC health correspondent.
It is too early to draw conclusions. Confirmed cases are mainly concentrated in one province of South Africa, but there are indications that it may have spread further.
This Friday, Belgium confirmed the first infected with the new variant . This is a passenger who arrived from Egypt in the past 11, confirmed by virologist Marc Van Ranst, researcher of the response to the pandemic in this European country.
The UK authorities decided to take precautions and travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini (Swaziland) who are already in the country must quarantine , and from this Friday flights with that origin will be suspended.
France suspended flights from these destinations, in addition to Swaziland, with immediate effect and for at least 48 hours.
Germany , Japan, Italy and Singapore also imposed similar restrictions.
And the European Commission has recommended to member countries the introduction of u n “emergency brake” on all travel from southern Africa.
Questions immediately arise about how fast the is spreading new variant, its ability to circumvent some of the protection provided by vaccines and what to do about it.
There is a lot of speculation, but very few clear answers.
That uncertainty has contributed to a drop in equity prices in various markets . In Asians, the Nikkei index in Tokyo and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell more than 2%. Among the most affected are actions in travel-related businesses.
So what do we know?
The variant is called B.1.1. 529 and it is likely that the World Health Organization (WHO) give a Greek name (like alpha and delta variants) on Friday.
It’s hard to tell if the new mutation will cause greater severity, but some analyzes suggest that there is a “possibility” that will have a “different impact” on those infected .
We also know that it has changed a lot. Professor Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Center for Innovation and Response to Epidemics in South Africa, said that there was an “unusual constellation of mutations” and that it was “very different” from other variants that have circulated.
“This variant surprised us. It has a huge leap in evolution and many more mutations than we expected, ” said.
In a press conference, Professor de Oliveira said that there was in the spike protein , which is the target of most vaccines and the key that the virus uses to open the door to the cells of our body.
Getting even closer to the receptor-binding domain (which is the part of the virus that makes the first contact with the cells of our body), it has 10 mutations compared to just two for the delta variant.
This level of mutation most likely comes from a only patient who could not beat the virus.
Many mutations is not automatically a bad thing. It is important to know what those mutations are actually doing.
But the concern is that this virus is now radically different from the original that emerged in Wuhan , China. That means that the vaccines, which were designed with the original strain, may not be as effective.
Some of the mutations have been seen before in other variants, which gives an idea of their role in this variant.
For example, the N 501 And it seems to facilitate the spread of the coronavirus. There are others that make it difficult for antibodies to recognize the virus and can make vaccines less effective.
Professor Richard Lessells, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said: “We It is concerned that this virus may have improved transmissibility , an improved ability to spread from person to person, but it could also bypass parts of the immune system. ”
There have been many examples of variants that looked scary on paper, but came to nothing. The Beta variant was at the top of the experts’ concerns at the beginning of the year because it was the best variant for escaping the immune system. But in the end it was the delta, which spread faster, that took over the world.
It is too early to draw conclusions
Scientific studies in the laboratory will give a clearer picture, but the answers will come more quickly when monitoring the virus in the real world.
It is still too early to draw clear conclusions, but there are already signs that are causing concern.
Has been 77 fully confirmed cases in Gauteng province in South Africa, four cases in Botswana and one in Hong Kong (which is directly related with trips from South Africa)
However, there are indications that the variant has spread further.
This variant seems to give outlandish results on standard tests, which can be used to track down the variant without doing a full genetic analysis.
That suggests that he 90% of the cases in Gauteng can already be this variant and “may already be present in most of the provinces” of South Africa.
But this does not tell us if it spreads faster than delta, if it is more severe or to what extent it can evade the immune protection that comes from vaccination.
It also does not tell us how well the variant will spread in countries with much higher vaccination rates than the 24% of South Africa, although a large number of people in the country have had Covid.
So for now we have a variant that raises significant concerns to despite the huge holes in our knowledge about it.
The lesson of the pandemic is that you cannot always wait until you have all the answers.
You can interest:
C ovid: WHO’s concern about the increase in cases and deaths in Europe
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