New strain of coronavirus has highest mutation rate yet, study finds

A recent study has identified a new strain of coronavirus that has the potential to become a variant of concern – like the alpha, beta, and delta variants, which have hit countries around the world with strong waves of new COVID-19 infections and deaths .

The most recent strain, dubbed C.1.2, comes from the same lineage as the beta variant from South Africa, according to the study, and was first identified in May 2021.

The researchers noted that it was “unexpected” to see a mutation so soon after the discovery of the original strain, C.1, in January, but sampling and genome sequencing revealed that the C. 1.2 “had changed considerably”.

C.1.2 has an extremely high mutation rate, according to the study. The new variant had between 44 and 59 mutations from the original COVID-19 strain, which is more than any other variant of concern or variant of interest.

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The C.1.2 variant was detected for the first time in South Africa in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng in May. In June, the new variant was also detected in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo as well as parts of England and China, according to the study.

“As of August 13, 2021, the C.1.2 line has been detected in 6/9 South African provinces (including the Eastern Cape and Western Cape), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mauritius, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland ”, the study continues.

The C.1.2 variant continues to spread exponentially on a monthly basis, the researchers said. In May, the C1.2 strain made up about 0.2% of new genomes sequenced outside South Africa, but in July that percentage rose to 2.0%, “similar to the increases seen in Beta and Delta in South Africa early detection, ”according to the study.

The new variant features similar spike proteins associated with higher rates of transmissibility – much like the delta variant of the coronavirus – and could potentially have characteristics that would allow C.1.2 to evade vaccine-induced immune responses, but the researchers note that further observations are needed.

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As of August 20, around 80 cases of the C.1.2 coronavirus variant have been detected in Botswana and South Africa, according to the study.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps track of the different strains of the novel coronavirus by categorizing them based on the transmissibility of the strains and the severity of the disease.

Strains such as alpha, first detected in the UK, beta, first detected in South Africa, and delta, first identified in India, are all worrisome variants.

Worrisome variants show “evidence of increased transmissibility, more serious illness (eg, increased hospitalizations or deaths), significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during infection or from a previous vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures ”According to the CDC.

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While it is too early to say whether the C.1.2 variant should be classified as a variant of concern, the researchers noted that it shares many of the same characteristics as the alpha, beta, and delta variants of the coronavirus.

News of a potentially delta-type variant is unwelcome as COVID-19 cases continue to average incredibly high numbers in the United States and around the world, despite several vaccines approved to combat it. serious illness and death from the novel coronavirus.

Reluctance to immunize and the late approval of children for immunization contributes to an increasing number of cases among young people and the unvaccinated.

So far, about 61% of the eligible population is vaccinated against the virus in the United States

The current seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in the United States is 152,246, up from the previous seven-day average of 146,087, according to CDC data.

In the past 24 hours, the United States has recorded 154,143 new cases and 1,588 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins.