Scientists have announced that a new Covid variant carrying an “extremely high number” of mutations has been detected, and that this variant can escape the body’s defenses and trigger more waves of disease.
For now, only 10 cases have been confirmed in three countries. But the variant has raised serious concerns among some researchers, as a number of mutations seem to help the virus evade immunity.
B. The new variant, named 1.529 (known as the Nu variant), has 32 mutations in the spike protein, which is part of the virus that most vaccines use to prepare the immune system against Covid. Mutations in the spike protein can affect the virus’s ability to infect cells and spread, but they can also make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen.
The variant was first seen in Botswana with three cases. This was followed by six cases in South Africa and, on a returning traveler from South Africa, a case in Hong Kong.
A virologist at Imperial College London, Dr. Tom Peacock published details of the new variant, saying that “there is an incredibly high amount of spike mutations and I think that could be a real concern.” In a series of tweets, Peacock said the variant “must be watched closely because of its terrifying spike profile”, but said that the possibility of it being a “strange cluster” that isn’t very contagious can’t be ruled out. “I hope so,” he said finally.
The Covid-19 case director for the UK Health Security Agency, Dr. Meera Chand said she is constantly monitoring the status of Sars-CoV-2 variants worldwide, working in partnership with scientific organizations around the world. Chand continued, “Since it is the nature of viruses to mutate frequently and randomly, it is not unusual for a small number of cases to occur with new clusters of mutations.”
Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, explains that the situation is serious, explaining that the work in his lab found that two of the mutations in B. 1.5529 increased transmission and decreased antibody recognition. ”
In short, at this time, we do not have precise information about how dangerous or how contagious the new variant is. Scientists, on the other hand, will be watching the new variant. However, some South African virologists point out that cases are already increasing, particularly in Gauteng, an urban area that includes Pretoria and Johannesburg, where cases of B. 1.529 have been detected. In other words, they think that B. 1.5529 seems highly likely to be a serious new threat. . .
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