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Two disturbing new coronavirus variants – first identified in Brazil and the UK – have been detected in the San Francisco Bay Area by Stanford Medicine, as the virus’s continued evolution will help it spread , to kill and escape the vaccines developed to fight the deadly disease.
The discovery of these strains, along with the growing number of California’s own version, comes as no surprise to experts – as viruses pass through a population, they will inevitably mutate. And they ignore international borders.
But this finding underscores the need for accelerated vaccinations to prevent their spread, as well as the wearing of masks, social distancing and isolation of sick people. The spread of these variants means that vaccine makers may need to develop booster shots to protect against them.
“The overall strategy to prevent these things is just to get everyone vaccinated,” said UC San Francisco epidemiologist George Rutherford. As long as we have pockets of unvaccinated people, the virus mutates, he said.
“The more people we can vaccinate,” he said, “the lower the risk of developing newer and newer strains that are more resistant to vaccines than those that currently exist,” he said. .
The Brazilian and British strains were found at Stanford’s Clinical Virology Lab, which has developed tests to detect the presence of viruses already spreading around the world. The Stanford team is examining hundreds of virus samples taken from people across the Bay Area, with plans for expansion. They also sequence entire viral genomes to identify any new mutations as they arise.
The search for viral variants and the rapid identification of new mutations are essential in detecting sudden changes in the pandemic.
“I expected that we would see these variants sooner rather than later,” said Dr. Ben Pinsky, medical director of the lab. The lab uploaded the genomes of the Bay Area variants into GISAID, an international database shared with researchers around the world.
“We need to continue to monitor the prevalence of these mutations – and determine how common they are becoming in our population, with the hope that they will likely increase in prevalence,” he said.
In the Darwinian struggle for life, the most effective viruses are those that spread quickly and can dodge our defenses. Over time, they become dominant.
But there aren’t an endless number of mutations, said Dr Barry Bloom, professor of public health and former dean of Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. If the COVID-19 virus makes too many changes, it can no longer effectively infect our cells.
The news comes as two vaccine makers reported new data from their clinical trials that have heightened concerns about viral mutations. On Thursday, Novavax said its vaccine was 90% effective in the UK but only 49% in South Africa, where a new variant of the very worrying coronavirus has become common. Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its single dose COVID-19 vaccine was 72% effective among clinical trial volunteers in the United States, but only 66% among those in Latin America and 57% among those in South Africa. South.
The Pfizer vaccine appears to work against cutting edge proteins from the British and South African variants, according to a recent lab study. A laboratory study of the Moderna vaccine indicated that it was effective against peak proteins of the British variant, but worked less well against proteins of the South African variant. As a precaution, the company is currently developing a recall.
So far, the United States has distributed 48 million doses of vaccine; of these, 26 million were administered.
Faced with the pace of viral change, Rutherford suggested prioritizing vaccinations in areas where these variants occur – a version of what’s called ‘ring vaccination’.
“I think there could be some strategic focus on those areas – to try to get more vaccine into more people,” he said.
Stanford’s new test uses a technology called reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR, to find the virus’s genetic material in samples taken from people’s noses. Then, using DNA probes, they identify whether the samples are infected with the original strain of coronavirus – or one of the newer variants.
“We hope that Stanford’s increased surveillance, combining RT-PCR and whole genome sequencing, will provide essential information to aid public health efforts over the coming months,” Pinsky said.
So far, the highly contagious British variant – known as B.1.1.7 – has only been found in San Diego and San Bernardino counties in California, as well as 28 other states. It is known to be more transmissible, and there is new evidence that it could be more deadly as well. The Stanford lab has found a confirmed case of 837 samples examined. This variant is expected to become the dominant strain in the country at the beginning of April.
The Brazilian variant found in the Bay Area – called P.2 – is not well understood. For now, he is less feared than his cousin P.1, which is now ravaging the Brazilian city of Manaus. P.2, which spreads in the state of Rio de Janeiro, shares only one of the three mutations of P.1. But this shared mutation, called the “escape mutation”, is of concern because it helps the virus escape our antibodies. This could therefore reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. Of the 837 samples examined, the Stanford lab found no evidence of P.1 – but a case of P.2.
“There is a slight difference” between the two Brazilian varieties, Pinsky said. “But I think it’s reasonable to say that there are some of the same concerns.”
The South African variant has not yet been detected by Stanford. South Carolina reported two cases of this variant in non-travelers from different parts of the state on Thursday, suggesting community spread. Vaccines and some antibody treatments may be less effective against this strain. One study found that half of the patients had a complete loss of immune recognition; the rest showed a slight drop, probably still having enough immunity to be protective.
But our California variant – first reported just 12 days ago – is growing in abundance, accounting for around 20% of the Stanford footage being screened. This strain is not currently of increased concern, as it is vulnerable to vaccines and treatments.
“It’s a wake-up call for all of us that we will continue to see the evolution of mutants,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, during a House press briefing. White Friday. “The virus has a playground for mutating. If we stop its replication, it cannot mutate. “
“It’s an incentive to vaccinate as many people as possible,” he said, “as quickly as possible.”
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