The transformation was first identified in November. However, it is not yet clear whether the transformation is more fierce to seize than the delta that now holds power.
New coronavirus variant seems to have spread very quickly in South Africa and replaced the Delta, which had hitherto been the dominant power there.
However, it is still unclear whether the novelty, which may be termed the current transformation, is in fact a more effective infectious than the previous variants.
The variant, scientifically named B.1.1.529, was first identified in November, Nature science publication according to Botswana. Most observations are from neighboring South Africa.
“This the new virus variant B.1.1.529 seems to be spreading really fast! In less than two weeks, it will control all infections after the shocking delta wave in South Africa, ”wrote the research director of the South African Virus Monitoring Center. Tulio de Oliveira Thursday messaging service On Twitter.
According to de Oliveira, the new variant now accounts for 75% of all viruses sequenced in the country.
The transformation has spread especially in the province of Gauteng, where the metropolitan city of Johannesburg is also located. It is estimated that it already accounts for 90% of infections in the region.
Sequencing is typically performed on only a sample of infections, but it nevertheless gives an idea of how common the different variants are.
The conversion has also been found in two people in Hong Kong. The cases relate to a trip to South Africa. Both were vaccinated. In South Africa, too, some of those infected with the variant have been vaccinated.
A nurse took a sample from a woman traveling to Britain at a corona test point at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg on Friday.
Although The transformation has quickly taken over the industry in South Africa and is a matter of concern, it may not yet tell you how it is spreading elsewhere. That’s what the professor of zoonotic virology says Olli Vapalahti From the University of Helsinki.
“The delta wave has faded in South Africa, and there may be opportunities for a new variant to spread. Even a small increase with the new variant is quickly visible, otherwise the situation is calmer, ”he says.
In South Africa, the incidence of infections has been only 46 cases in two weeks per 100,000 inhabitants. In Finland, the same figure is 243.
“It is typical of new virus lines that reproduction in one area can be a coincidence related to conditions,” says Vapalahti.
“If it happens independently in different regions, it is an indication that it can spread globally. Is this a transformation, it is too early to answer. On the other hand, the accumulation of such material cannot be waited for before the measures are taken. ‘
In South Africa there have been major waves of disease, and very many have had coronavirus disease. However, vaccination coverage is still low.
“It remains to be seen how the variant can reproduce in a context where vaccination coverage is higher and where the delta is active.”
In any case, according to Vapalahti, the transformation must be closely monitored. The World Health Organization is expected to name the variant after the Greek letter nyy. It comes in the alphabet after the Delta.
Face masks with a mannequin and passers-by in Soweto on Friday.
In conversion the numerous mutations in the spike protein used by the virus to invade human cells are of concern.
There are twice as many such amino acid changes as in the delta variant, more than 30 in total.
“It has a lot of mutations at once, and it’s a bit like a new line. This has not risen from within Beta or Delta and is a separate variant of them, ”says Vapalahti.
The variant has several of the same mutations as previous variants for alpha, beta, and delta. Some are those that have not previously occurred in the same transformation at the same time, and some are brand new.
Spike protein first, there are mutations at the sites to which the antibodies resulting from the disease bind. It can help the variant evade immune protection.
The antibodies raised by the vaccines also target the spike protein, so it is possible that their ability to protect against at least mucosal infection may be impaired.
In addition, there are amino acid changes at the so-called furin cleavage site. This point is crucial when the virus opens its way into the cell. Thus, changes in it may affect the ability of the virus to infect cells.
“There are many features in the sequence of the virus that can be speculated that it can evade immunity and be potentially more contagious.”
Only however, it is not yet possible to deduce with certainty from the inheritance of the virus how it works in real life.
Vapalahti is not aware of any laboratory studies that have had time to study how the mutations in the new variant together affect infectivity or the avoidance of antibodies.
“The mutation cannot work alone but in conjunction with the rest of the amino acid sequence. In laboratory experiments, one mutation may work in a particular direction, but it is not known whether it works in the same way as a part of the whole. ”
The pathogenicity of the variant, i.e. the ability to cause serious disease, is also not yet known.
The new transformation is so new that scientists around the world are just beginning to experiment with it. More detailed information on the studies can be expected in the coming weeks.
With one According to Vapalahti, the numerous mutations that have occurred for the first time suggest that the variant may have developed in an immunosuppressed patient whose immune system is weak and the infection may therefore be prolonged.
Such a situation allows the virus to evolve in one person.
“In southern Africa, for example, an infection from a patient immunosuppressed by AIDS could be the background. But this is just speculation. ”
Similarly, alpha, formerly known as the British variant, is believed to have evolved.
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