Inside the search for coronavirus mutants in Canada-nationwide

A genetic search is underway as Canadian scientists in a sophisticated national lab network aim to detect and destroy the new and highly contagious UK and South Africa. A variant of the coronavirus.

For front-line doctors like Dr. Jamie Spiegelmann, the new variant is a concern. As a doctor in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto, he saw the pandemic in the worst light. He learned to anticipate sudden and terrible shaking that often hits COVID-19 patients.

“Some patients are really minimal or completely asymptomatic, and some are ill enough to die within hours of coming to the hospital no matter what we do for them.” Spiegelman told Global News.

This unit is over capacity because the cases in the surrounding community are out of control. To pave the way, they had to reduce surgery and create an intensive care unit in the hospital’s surgical recovery unit.

High-dose vaccination brings distant hope, but Spiegelman is concerned that these new strains, especially British variants, can exacerbate the already annoying tendency.

“”It is much more infectious and contagious because the original virus is known to be highly contagious from the beginning, “says Spiegelman. “So if this explodes in our society, which doubles or triples our number, it will drip on the patients who die from it.”

The British variant is not considered as serious as the original virus, Recent studies suggest that it is more than 50% more contagious.. Once it has settled in the population, it has the potential to add a new level of explosive growth to already dire situations.

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Canadian scientists test new variants

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A few floors down, hospital lab staff participated in the search for variants. They have increased their workforce and are currently working 24 hours a day, processing hundreds of COVID-19 PCR tests daily.

In a positive test, they are wary of missing genes that may indicate the presence of a British variant. Recently, they discovered two test samples without that obvious gene.

Both samples are sent to state laboratories that are part of Canada’s COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN), where genomic sequencing takes place.

Genome sequencing involves mapping the entire gene profile of a particular viral sample. This is the only way to determine the range of population variants.

Dr. Catalina Lopescorea is the Secretary-General of a national network of dozens of states and academic laboratories. It was created in March last year with the aim of enhancing the genomic sequencing of SARSCoV-2 mutants.

The goal is to sequence the genomes of 150,000 viral specimens and 10,000 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. To date, researchers have sequenced 5% of all Canadian cases, and most importantly, they are in close contact with responders around the world.

“I think this situation in the UK and South Africa shows that genomics must be global. The virus is moving around the world, so we can’t concentrate on just one region,” Lopez said. -Correa told Global News.

When news of British and South African variants came to light in the fall, network labs accelerated testing of virus samples. Dr. Lopez-Correa and her team have changed their sequence selection strategies and are now prioritizing travelers from the United Kingdom and the United States.

Using this method, they succeeded in identifying more than 12 cases in Canada. But are these cases just the tip of the iceberg? Lopez-Correa said it’s hard to know where we are on the epidemic curve right now.

“That’s why I’m in a hurry to run as many sequences as possible to get the exact answer.”

Of further concern, some cases of British variants in Canada lack a known link to travel, suggesting the annoying potential for community expansion.

4:08BC detects the first case of the South African variant, the fourth case of the UK variant of COVID-19

Dr. Terry Snatch of the Michael Smith Institute at the University of British Columbia said the most important thing was to interrupt the momentum before the varieties settled.

“What happens is that once it reaches the critical mass of the population, it’s very, very difficult to contain,” Snatch told Global News.

The infectivity of British variants poses a far more deadly threat, Snatch said.

“”The fact that it spreads more efficiently with simple calculations means that more people will become infected with it. The more people who get infected, the more people are hospitalized and, unfortunately, the more people die. “

When Spiegelman initiates another shift in the intensive care unit, it is accompanied by a sense of caution about the irregular nature of the disease.

“The virus is so diverse that it’s really unpredictable … so you need to anticipate the worst, expect the best, and treat it as best as you can. Many patients survive. I hope the patient can survive because there is no such thing. “

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