How is the new variant of COVID-19 detected in Vietnam

More than a year after being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, COVID-19 accumulates more than 170 million infections and 3.5 million deaths worldwide, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center and, despite intense efforts by governments to speed up vaccination plans, discovery of new variants raises concerns in the global scientific community.

Although the number of cases of infections reported by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, faced with the situation in other countries, such as Argentina, Brazil or India, turns out to be weak (7,107 infections and 47 deaths), In Vietnam a new concern has arisen: a hybrid variant of the coronavirus has been detected, formed with traces of the Indian and English strains, It spreads much faster in the air than others.

This was announced by Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, who explained that this variant “is responsible for the new wave of infections” in the country, which started about a month ago, and which has So far registered 3,595 new cases in 33 cities and provinces, the official said.

The Vietnamese variant was discovered by studying the genomic sequence of the virus infected in Indochina. “The peculiarity of this strain is that it spreads quickly in the air. The concentration of virus in the throat fluid increases rapidly and spreads with great force in the surrounding environmentSaid Long.

However, the official did not give details of the number of cases recorded with this new variant, but said Vietnam will soon announce the discovery on the world map of genetic strains.

Why are the new strains appearing? “The answer to this question is given by the biology of this type of virus. The new coronavirus, the cause of this new disease, COVID-19, is made up of RNA. These types of viruses reproduce in our cells and during viral reproduction the virus genome must be copied to produce new virus particles.. The enzyme that copies this viral RNA makes a lot of mistakes and those mistakes are the mutations or changes that the new virus particles show if we compare them to the original strain that infected that person.“, Explained Laura Palermo, doctor of virology, specialist in the history of diseases and professor at Hunter College in New York, recently consulted by this community.

“A lot of these new viruses, which contain mutations, can’t infect other cells or other people, and they just go away. In other words, they do not circulate among the population. But aSome of these newer variants have mutations that give them an adaptive advantage.. In other words, they have a greater aptitude. Some play faster or broadcast more efficiently. And they start to circulate more and more. Until they move, that is to say they beat the other variants, ”he added.

One factor that increases the likelihood of these variants appearing is the number of infections. The more infected people in a population, the more likely it is that a variant will appear.: very populated regions, with a very high contagion index, with a very low vaccination percentage, are the ideal context for the emergence of a new variant. “To avoid the emergence of new strains, we need to reduce the likelihood of infections through the use of masks, chin straps and social distancing. The most effective strategy is to vaccinate as many people as possible and as quickly as possible“Palermo added.

Before the Vietnamese Minister of Health’s announcement, seven variants of coronavirus had already been detected in this country, according to the portfolio authorities in that country who, as a strategy to contain the spread of the virus, have promoted massive quarantines and strict contact surveillance that are helping to keep infection rates relatively low.

This new wave of infections has raised the alarm of the scientific community and, according to the authorities in this country, they have acted with agility to impose strict limits on traffic and commercial activity.

In this sense, the closure of cafes, restaurants, hairdressers and massage parlors, as well as tourist and religious places in various regions of the country, has been ordered. The vaccination campaign is progressing slowly and so far only at least one dose of the drug has been inoculated to just over 1% of the population, according to the Our World in Data registry, and only 0.03% of the population. received both doses.. Vietnam has a little over 97 million inhabitants.

Currently, the country has around 2 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, but the purchase of over 30 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been announced. Likewise, the government of that country is also in talks with Russia to produce Sputnik V and is even working on developing a vaccine with its own seal.

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