Naaju Breaking News, Live Updates, Latest Headlines, Viral News, Top Stories, Trending Topics, Videos
[ad_1]
New countries are being added almost daily to the list of countries where the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which first appeared in mid-September in the UK, began to circulate.
Known as B117 (or also VUI-202012/01), this strain has caused an unprecedented increase in the number of cases in the country (58,784 as of 1/4/21), and has become the predominant variant in just three months.
At the end of December, for example, it was estimated that 60% of new cases in London and surrounding areas were with the new variant.
Much remains to be discovered on this strain which has 23 mutations (17 of which appeared suddenly) concerning the virus which appeared a year ago in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but what has been shown is that it is a lot the most contagious and replace old versions of the virus.
According to a study from Imperial College London, the new strain is close to 50% more transmissible than others, which increases the R-number – which is the average number of people an infected person can infect – from 0.4 to 0.7.
Remember that this value must be less than 1 to stop the pandemic (currently in the UK it is between 1.1 and 1.3).
“There is a huge difference in the ease with which this variant of the virus is transmitted,” Axel Gandy, professor at Imperial College, told the BBC. “This is the most serious change since the start of the epidemic,” he added.
But what about this strain which, while not causing more severe cases of the disease, makes covid-19 easier to spread among the population? How do you do? And what impact does this have on the effectiveness of the different vaccines?
The exact mechanism used to achieve this is not clear. But preliminary studies suggest that one of the 17 most important mutations (in the spike-shaped protein of the virus) allows the virus to better bind to a protein on the surface of human cells, thereby facilitating infection.
Any change that facilitates entry of the virus into the cell play in their favor.
This mutation (known as N501Y) appears to be an important adaptation, Nick Loman of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium recently told the BBC.
Another mutation – called the H69 / V70 deletion – in which a small part of the virus spike protein is removed – has appeared several times before, for example in infected minks in Denmark.
Research by Professor Ravi Gupta, University of Cambridge, indicates that this mutation double infectivity in laboratory experiments.
Studies by the same team of researchers suggest that this suppression makes the antibodies in the blood of survivors less effective at attacking the virus.
Another hypothesis considered to explain the high number of infections caused by the new strain relates to the viral load.
According to preliminary studies (not yet peer reviewed) conducted by the Birmingham Public Health Laboratory, 35% of samples from patients infected with the B117 strain had high virus levels, compared to only 10% of patients infected with another variant.
It’s the the viral load in the nose and throat of people with the new strain was higher, a factor that facilitates contagion.
However, the researchers note that more evidence needs to be collected and analyzed to reach firm conclusions.
On the other hand, it has been shown that the strain is more prevalent in children and youth.
It is not known whether this is due to the fact that the variant infects this sector of the population more effectively, or if this increase is due to the fact that in recent months in the UK schools have remained open, while adult activities have been seen. reduced by various containment and social distancing measures.
One of the most pressing questions in the face of the emergence of this strain is whether the vaccines will have the same level of effectiveness as for the original variant.
According to Lawrence Young, a professor at the University of Warwick, the information available so far suggests that vaccines they will be effective against the new form of the virus.
“Variants of the virus have been around since the start of the pandemic and are the product of the natural process by which viruses develop and adapt to their host as they replicate.”
“Most of these mutations have no effect on the behavior of the virus, but very occasionally they can improve its ability to infect and / or become more resistant to the body’s immune response,” Young explains.
More research is needed to understand why the variant is spreading so quickly, but the first indications are that vaccines will be effective against it.
In the meantime, it is known that the mechanism of transmission of the new strain is the same as for the others (by inhaling small droplets and aerosols containing the virus and floating in the air), so it is still vital to continue with measures. isolation, hygiene and social distance.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
