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An increasingly common mutation of the coronavirus seen around the world – but mainly in the former epicenters of the pandemic – which is more infectious but less deadly may prove to be our saving grace, said a leading expert in the field. diseases.
Rising prevalence of the D614G mutation in Europe, North America and parts of Asia coincides with declining death rates from Covid-19, and “Maybe that’s a good thing,” supports Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
Tambyah points out that the natural evolution of viruses is to become less virulent as they mutate, with the goal of longer-term survival – if they kill their hosts too quickly, viruses tend not to last. too long in the wild.
“It is in the interest of the virus to infect more people, but not to kill them, because a virus depends on the host for its food and shelter,” Tambyah explained.
This particular mutation was discovered early in the pandemic in February, but scientists could not say at the time which of several mutations would prove to be the most “efficient” virus in terms of survival.
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Fortunately, these mutations are unlikely to impact the effectiveness of future vaccines, so we may be entering a new one. “New standard” earlier than expected, with vaccines still very important, but the overall lethality of the coronavirus pandemic is declining.
“(The) variants are almost identical and haven’t changed the areas our immune systems typically recognize, so there shouldn’t be any difference for vaccines in development,” says Sebastian Maurer-Stroh of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
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