Horrible new stock CoronavirusInnocently named B.1.1.7, recently exploded in southeastern England, urging the government to tighten the blockade of the area. I don’t know the details, but experts are convinced that they are more susceptible to infection than other strains. This is all we know about this new strain.
what is that?
The SARS-CoV-2 strain B.1.1.7 is a version of the virus with 23 mutations, eight of which are contained in the peplomer protein used by the virus to bind and invade human cells. I am. Science magazine reported..
Where did it come from?
It was first detected in Kent County, England on September 21, and took off and spread in November. According to the World Health Organization..
Since then, it has become the most common variant in the UK, accounting for more than 50% of new cases diagnosed in the UK between October and December 13, according to WHO.
However, some scientists now believe that the virus may have mutated in people with immunodeficiency. According to Science Magazine.. This is because, unlike influenza, the new coronavirus tends to have a fairly stable genome because it can correct mistakes during replication, LiveScience previously reported. However, studies show that people whose immune system is weakened, such as by taking immunosuppressive drugs or being treated with chemotherapy, may have the infectious virus for several months. .. It will, in turn, give the virus many opportunities to acquire mutations that help the virus replicate or evade. Immune system..
What do these mutations do?
It is not well understood. Virus It is constantly mutating and most of these changes do not affect the lethal or infectiousness of the virus. In this case, some of these mutations may have occurred purely by chance and may not affect the functioning of the virus.
But three mutations in particular worried experts.
One is a deletion of two amino acids known as 69-70Delta, which was first detected separately in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs that developed COVID-19.Patient received remdesivir, convalescent plasma and neutralization antibodyHowever, he died a few months later.The virus did not initially have this deletion, but it acquired it over the months, researchers reported in a preprint article published on December 19th. withRiv database.. (Not peer-reviewed.) The authors suspect that it may have evolved to evade the immune system. Another problem associated with this deletion is that one of the targets of the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test (known as the S gene) can be falsely tested negative. Some tests only look for positives for this S gene, so they miss new variants. However, most PCR assays look for three separate regions of the spike protein, so these assays are unaffected, WHO said.
Another mutation, known as N501Y, alters the major amino acids that make up the so-called receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2. Here, the amino acid asparagine (N) has been partially replaced by tyrosine (Y). A virus that latches on the ACE2 receptor in human cells, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..Journal September Study cell This mutant was found to bind more strongly to the ACE2 receptor than other versions of coronavirus, at least in the laboratory dish.
Dozens of samples of SARS-CoV-2 from South Africa and Australia were tested positive for this mutation, but laboratory tests showed that South African and British variants evolved the same mutation separately. I suggest that. This suggests that the virus may have evolutionary benefits.
The third suspicious mutation is P681H, which is also in the receptor-binding domain of the virus.According to the preliminary information posted by COVID-19 Genomics Consortium UK, This mutation is next to the “furin cleavage site” and requires the virus to cleave the peplomer in order to enter the cell. According to Science Magazine..
Is it easy to spread?
Yes. Experts now believe that the new variants are 50% to 74% more contagious than other dominant strains. Mathematical Modeling and Infectious Disease Center (CMMID) Not yet peer reviewed. WHO estimates that this adds 0.4 to the basic reproduction number R. This shows how many people each infected person spreads the virus.
Based on its growth model, the study found that new variants could be involved in 90% of all new COVID-19 cases in London and East and South England by mid-January. ..
Is it more deadly?
I don’t know, but experts think it isn’t. But if it spreads much easier, it means more people will be hospitalized. Overwhelming hospitals can reduce the quality of care for the most sick patients, which can lead to higher than expected mortality without it.
A CMMID study found that the new variant could explain the increased hospitalization in southeastern England. This is mainly due to the increased spread of the virus, not because it is more dangerous.
Another study that has not been peer reviewed, By CMMIDUsed a mathematical model to determine whether the rapid growth of the virus in London was due to increased infectivity or a more serious one. The latter did not fit the data well, while the former did.
Are the variants spread to the United States?
So far, scientists haven’t detected the strain anywhere in the United States, but the United States hasn’t sequenced as many virus samples as the United Kingdom. For example, as of December, the United States has sequenced 51,000 virus samples from 17 million identified cases of SARS-CoV-2. According to the CDC.. In the United Kingdom, more than twice as many virus samples are sequenced as in the United States, despite just over one-tenth of the cases diagnosed.
Dr. Stanley Perlman, an immunologist and pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of Iowa Talked to the Center for Infectious Disease Research Policy (CIDRAP) “I would have been surprised if it hadn’t,” he said, suspecting that the variant was already in the United States.
Can kids catch it more easily?
Some evidence in the past suggests that children may be less susceptible to the new coronavirus. If this new variant attaches easily to cells, it may spread more easily among children than before. However, further investigation is needed to see if that is the case.
was Rise in the case of British children At the same time, the virus increased its spread. The rise was not seen when the children first returned to school in early fall. However, at this point the school was open while many others were closed, so the school may have represented one of the relatively few chances that the virus had to spread. It is not yet easy for children to find and spread this variant.
Is the vaccine effective against new viruses?
Most experts believe that the newly developed vaccine will still work against new British variants. When a vaccine stimulates the immune system, the body builds an arsenal of cells to bind to many different parts of the virus. According to the CDC, mutations at a small number of spots may not be sufficient to reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Given that 99% of the proteins in the new variant are identical to the strains targeted by the Pfizer-BioNtech mRNA vaccine (the Moderna vaccine is very similar), the vaccine is very likely to work. BioNTech CEO UğurŞahin said in the news. briefing.
Over time, variants that evade some vaccines may emerge, just as the flu vaccine needs to be renewed annually. However, the new mRNA vaccine may be updated to reflect the new mutation in about 6 weeks. Şahin told the Financial Times..
What can we do to stop this?
The new variant spreads like a normal coronavirus. So what everyone has done since March to prevent the spread of the virus will work with the new UK variant. Hand wash, physical distance, mask, and good ventilation. Adhering to these rules and avoiding unnecessary outings will help prevent their spread.
Originally published in Live Science.
