Children could be the most affected by the MU variant of the novel coronavirus

Experts from Bogotá and Cali agreed that the MU variant could become more deadly in children under 12, as this is the population that has yet to be vaccinated in the country. This new strain recently detected in Colombia, and which has also been declared of interest by the World Health Organization, could also cause a fourth peak, hence the concern of health authorities.

However, until now, knowledge of the consequences of this variant is scarce, so the scientific community expects more results, but they now fear that this will generate serious clinical pictures.

“I hope it’s not more effective in that regard because then we would be talking about a potentially dangerous new line. And it would be very bad if somehow it could break down, end the problem. vaccination “, Elkin Sánchez Montenegro, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of La Salle, said in the Citynoticias newscast of the Bogota City TV channel

The expert added that while it is possible that those who have suffered from it will generate their own defenses against the new variant, there are concerns about how this could affect the Under-12s.

“The immune response can be so aggressive on contact with the virus that children make organ failure much faster and much more deadly than adults,” Sánchez explained.

Cali experts from the Public-Private Committee of Health Experts (Copesa) also coincide with this hypothesis, an institution that created the government of Valle del Cauca to conduct studies on the new coronavirus sars-cov-2 in this department. .

“The big concern is that it affects children under the age of twelve who do not have the vaccine, as they can be immersed in this infection and possibly lead to the possibility of contagion with this multiplying virus.”, Javier Torres, pediatrician and epidemiologist member of Copesa, warned in the Diario de Occidente of the capital of Valle del Cauca.

The Delta remains the concern

Globally, it has caused epidemics in South America, Europe and the United States, and scientists are looking for evidence to determine whether the new version is more infectious or causes more severe symptoms. although they pointed out that viruses are constantly evolving and often many new variants tend to disappear.

Until now, The MU variant does not appear to be spreading quickly: it accounts for less than 1% of COVID-19 cases internationally. In Colombia, it could be responsible for 39% of infections, but for now most countries remain concerned about the delta variant, which is highly contagious and is the dominant variant in almost all of the 174 countries where it has been detected.

The authorities have been attentive to the MU variant in Europe, where it has been detected in around ten countries. The French Ministry of Health recently noted that this variant does not seem to have increased recently on the European continent.

Last month, a report from the Public Health Agency of England showed that the MU variant could be just as resistant to covid-19 vaccines as the beta variant first detected in South Africa, but has noted that more information is still needed.

WHO officials said the presence of the mu variant appears to be increasing in some South American countries, but they pointed out that the delta variant continues to spread much more easily.

The mu variant “interests us because of the combination of mutations it has,” said Maria Van Kerkhove of the WHO. “But it doesn’t seem to be going around.”

The United States is “paying attention,” but it is not seen as an immediate threat, said Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert.

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