Andean strain: what we know so far and why scientists are concerned

April 28, 2021 0:47

In Ecuador and Peru, new mutations of the coronavirus have been reported, and in the latter case, the C.37 variant has been dubbed the “Andean strain”.

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The Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador reported that it was detected an unknown variant of the coronavirus in five people. So far, they have found that comes from B.1.1.1, which is in circulation all over the world.

Then in Peru they discovered a mutation they named C.37, also known as the “Andean strain”. This “seems to be developing in Chile since January”, according to national scientists, and has even been reported in Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina; even in USA, Germany, France, Spain, UK and Australia.

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In this regard, specialists have reported that “It was observed in 50 of the 123 genomes (40.6%) reported in Lima and Callao between January and March“. However, its origin is still unknown, but it is considered that it can correspond to Peru or Chile.

This is based on the fact that the two countries are currently experiencing an epidemiological situation and they tend to have a constant frequency of thefts between them. But the possibility that “it was introduced from another (nationality) in the region that has not yet detected it,” the Peruvian researcher said, is not excluded either. Pablo Tsukuyama.

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Regarding the behavior of the Andean strain, it has not been possible to verify for the moment if it is more contagious than the rest of the variants, if it is resistant or not to the current vaccines against the coronavirus, and if it is. the cause of the second wave in Latin American countries.

But Tsukuyama mentioned that “the appearance and expansion of this lineage seems to correspond to the increase in cases in various regions“, Although the correlation does not imply causation.

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