A new variant of the coronavirus combining 18 mutations has been detected in Brazil

A new variant of the coronavirus has been detected by scientists in Belo Horizonte. It is “a combination of 18 never-before-described mutations in Sars-CoV-2“O Globo and various media reported in Mina Gerais state.

Among these mutations, some are shared with the Brazilian variants of Manaus and Rio de Janeiro, with the South Africans and with the British, all associated with increased transmission.

According to the researchers, the new variant of Belo Horizonte and cities in the metropolitan area was seen in two samples of the 85 assessed, which contained the presence of “a set of 18 unprecedented mutations“.

It was identified by researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), the group Hermès Pardini, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the city hall of the capital.

“It is not yet known whether this variant, along with others that have come to inhabit the world, causes greater transmission of the virus or more serious clinical pictures in those infected,” Brazilian media reported.

Researchers sequenced 85 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from collected clinical samples, and two new ones were found. They were collected on February 27 and 28, 2021.

Apparently, in principle “there is no evidence of an epidemiological link between the two”, such as kinship or residential region, which “reinforces traffic theory of this new possible variant, ”they said in a statement.

The study also found that the Manaus and UK strains are The most common in Belo Horizonte. Despite the discovery, the researchers stressed that the recommended health measures are the same as those practiced since the start of the pandemic.

The new variant of San Pablo

The director of the Brazilian public laboratory Instituto Butantan, Dimas CovasHe said the authorities are “concerned” by the greater resistance to vaccines shown by a variant similar to that in South Africa found in a patient in the city of Sorocaba, state of São Paulo.

“The case of Sorocaba is a variant which worries because it is the one which presents the greatest resistance to the neutralization of the antibodies induced by the vaccines. All the vaccines used, the main ones, showed a reduction of the neutralization against this variant”, Covas said at a conference alongside Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria.

Covas explained that the variant found in a patient from the town of Sorocaba “is phylogenetically very close to the South African variant.”

“But what’s peculiar and interesting is that this variant has no connection with people who have traveled to South Africa or anything like that. It raises concerns because it can tell us that it is. could happen to other people and could become community transmission, ”says Covas.

El caso de Sorocaba, ciudad ubicada a 97 kilómetros al oeste de San Pablo, había sido anunciado hace dos semanas como una variant of the sudafricana o como una “evolución” of the variant del Amazonas o P1, responsible for the segunda ola of coronavirus in Brazil.

Source: agencies.

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