You must read Dr Fauci’s incredible news on the British coronavirus mutation – BGR



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  • The British coronavirus mutation is spreading faster than other variants and has reached several other countries, including America.
  • Dr Anthony Fauci said in a discussion with California Governor Gavin Newsom that he was not surprised to learn that the B.1.1.7 variant is already spreading in the United States.
  • The NIAID director also offered good news about the mutation, revealing that early data from Britain shows that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are not more susceptible to further infection with the mutated virus.
  • The finding indicates that the vaccines would also work against the mutation.

Several countries have started vaccinating people with one of the three COVID-19 vaccine candidates that have so far received emergency use authorization. The deployment of vaccines is slow because the supply is insufficient. The drugs offer excellent immunity against severe COVID-19, but this protection takes a few weeks to set in. That’s why it will be several months before vaccines begin to slow epidemics across the country and around the world. It’s also why protective measures will still be needed for most of 2021 to further reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

The reality is that the pathogen is still spreading wildly, with the United States and most of Europe still facing major outbreaks of COVID-19 that continue to set new records. The new coronavirus mutated at the start of the pandemic into a more contagious version that swept the world. At the end of 2020, we learned that the virus had acquired another set of genetic changes that further increased its ability to infect cells. The British mutation revealed a few weeks ago, also known as B.1.1.7, is a collection of 17 genetic changes that the virus has acquired. The theory is that the virus mutated in an immunocompromised patient with an active COVID-19 infection that lasted for several months. The result is a version of the coronavirus that is even more contagious than its “parents”, and that version is largely responsible for Britain’s record number of cases. B.1.1.7 is not more fatal and does not cause more serious COVID-19. It is spreading more efficiently than before, and the strain has already been discovered in various countries, including the United States.

Experts are still studying the new strain for definitive answers, but Dr Anthony Fauci already has good news regarding B.1.1.7. The new strain doesn’t appear to be re-infecting COVID-19 patients who have already recovered, and that’s actually great news for vaccines.

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Vaccine makers BioNTech and Moderna have previously issued statements indicating that their vaccines are very likely to work against B.1.1.7. Further tests will follow to determine exactly what changes, if any, need to be made to the medications.

Coronavirus vaccines instruct the immune system to make neutralizing antibodies and B and T cells that specifically target the virus spike protein. The same happens naturally in patients who survive COVID-19. Any significant mutation in the spike protein could render these vaccines unnecessary. The same goes for neutralizing antibodies, as well as for B and T cells produced after infection with the true SARS-CoV-2 virus. The immune cells may not recognize the new pathogen and a second infection may be possible.

Dr. Fauci spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom in an online chat and touched on B.1.1.7 detection in the United States. Doctors in Colorado and California have confirmed that the mutated strain is spreading in those states. Fauci said he was not surprised that the variant of the coronavirus is already in circulation in America, noting that more cases will likely surface in the country.

“It appears that this particular mutation improves the transmission of the virus from person to person,” said the director of NIAID. But he added that British colleagues have found that people infected with B.1.1.7 “do not appear to be re-infected with it. He added that the immunity already acquired against a different strain of coronavirus “is protective against that particular strain”.

While neutralizing antibodies created after COVID-19 can block B.1.1.7, so will neutralizing antibodies created after vaccines. In either case, the immune system creates antibodies that respond to the spike protein. The same goes for the B and T cells involved in immune responses. Some T cells recognize infected cells and kill them, whether the infection is from B.1.1.7 or a different variant. Simultaneously, the B cells recognize the pathogen and initiate the massive production of antibodies.

Further research will be needed to confirm these initial results, and it is important to note that B.1.1.7 still poses a significant risk. If it is more contagious it could become dominant in other countries just like what we are seeing happening in the UK right now. A more infectious version of the disease – even one that doesn’t cause a more severe course of COVID-19 – can still lead to more deaths.

This is why vaccination campaigns must be intensified. Fauci said on Wednesday that vaccination campaigns would improve, even if the current distribution is below initial estimates. “As we move into January, the feeling is that we are going to build momentum so that we can catch up,” he told Newsom. “By early fall, we’ll have herd immunity good enough that we can really go back to a strong semblance of normalcy – schools, theaters, sporting events, restaurants.

Fauci has also explained in previous interviews that the same public health measures everyone has advised will also work against variant B.1.1.7. This includes wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, and washing hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer.

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Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he even knew it, he was sharing his take on tech with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he miserably fails to walk away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.



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