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Omicron may circumvent some protection from vaccines, scientists say

 


Many mysteries remain about Omicron, which has more than twice the number of mutations in the Delta mutant. Most of it is found in spikes, which are crown-like proteins on the surface of the virus that the vaccine trains to attack our body. Almost two years after the pandemic, the emergence of such a highly mutated virus surprised the scientific community. Many hypothesized that, as in 1918, the hyperinfectious delta mutant could mark the last major wave, peak, and eventually burn out. Influenza pandemic.

Scientists are careful to figure out exactly what the Omicron mutation means and to pinpoint the details of how contagious it is and how it affects infected people. Testing and research in a typical laboratory can take weeks. However, early observations allowed scientists to make informed guesses about what was to come.

The location of the mutation in Omicron suggests two things. First, the virus may evade the vaccine to some extent. Some of the spike mutations are in the same place as found in other rapidly spreading mutants. In past variants, these mutations resulted in what is known as antibody escape. In this case, the virus can evade the attack of antibodies produced by the vaccine or previous Covid-19 infection.

The second insight is that Omicron does not appear to be impervious to the body’s second line of defense, the T cells. They work in tandem with antibodies to prevent infections and the development of illness. If the virus manages to escape the antibody attack, T cells will work to kill the infected cells.

Wendy Burger, an immunoscientist at the University of Cape Town, said: “Many of the mutations occur in peplomer hotspots, which are known to be important for antibody binding.” We predict that many of the T cell responses are still omicrons. On the other hand, it is active. “

In her lab, we are waiting for samples from patients infected with Omicron and for Omicron-based pesplomers to begin experiments to confirm this suspicion. However, early computer analysis supports the theory.

Antibodies have a narrow target of attack on peplomers, targeting only two specific regions known as the receptor-binding domain and the N-terminal domain. This means that a small number of mutations in these areas can have a significant impact on an antibody’s ability to attack.

T cells, on the other hand, target the entire spike. It is unlikely that some changes will affect their effectiveness.

“What we need to see in our lab experiments is how much the T cell response is affected,” she said.

Some of the dozens of mutations in Omicron have been previously seen in previous varieties, but many are completely new. This means that more time and data will be needed to ensure a complete understanding of the full impact of Omicron.

At Rockefeller University in New York, Theodora Hatzio Anou’s lab has been experimenting with a non-hazardous synthetic version of the virus over the past year and what happens if there are significant numbers of mutations in the Covid-19 peaplomer. I investigated if it would happen. Location as omicron.

“I can be confident that this new spike is fairly resistant to antibody neutralization,” she said. “This Omicron spike does not escape all reactions of our immune system, and we hope that the vaccine will still provide some protection from serious illness.”

In the long run, what these mutations highlight is that pandemics are difficult to predict.

Charles Chiu, a microbiologist at the University of California in San Francisco, has joined a camp of scientists who suspected that the delta mutation was the beginning of the end of the pandemic in a laboratory that sequenced the first known case of Omicron in the United States. Said he was there.

“I was surprised by Omicron,” he said. “This is a virus that has always surprised us.”

He said the increase in cases would result in more hospitalizations and deaths, simply because of the number of infections, even if Omicron does not cause more serious infections for most people. And as long as there are many unvaccinated people around the world, the virus will continue to spread and mutate.

Omicron also provides further evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is highly adaptable and may be difficult to completely eradicate. According to Chiu, public health policies may need to shift from the goal of eliminating the viral circulation through vaccination to the goal of instead focusing on the prevention of severe illness.

“It’s very likely that the virus remains,” he said.

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