Detection Race
Scientists identify coronavirus strains around the world
Alexander Burmistrov, "Scientific Russia"
Scientists say that coronavirus mutations are a natural process. Virologists report British, South African, Japanese-Brazilian, Bavarian and California strains.
The choice is like in a good car dealership: here is the British version, faster than the rest and more powerful. Recently, it has become more and more popular. This is a competitor from South Africa – also fast and therefore actively flying. Unlike the British – very nimble, can hide in the stream. There is also a joint result of Brazil and Japan – it works twice. An American specimen will be brought in soon – from California. Nothing is known about him yet, in the USA they figure it out themselves.
So the seller could describe new strains of coronavirus. However, scientists are not happy about such a multinational viral diversity. They would have taken it to the root, but it won't work: while new mutations are being studied and drugs are being prepared for the fight, alternatives are already maturing. Maybe while this article is being prepared, Scandinavian or Australian strains are maturing.
Assortment
By the end of January, three COVID-19 strains were heard – British, South African and Brazilian, some sources call the latter Brazilian-Japanese.
Recently there was information about the California strain, detailed information about it has not yet been published. Scientists in the US say only that they are observing and studying a mutation that is becoming more and more common.
Another strain was found in Bavaria. Epidemiologists say it has nothing to do with the British and South African strains. So far, there is information that a new strain has been identified in 35 people.
Great britain
Actively talking about the British strain began at the end of December, although it has been known about it since the beginning of autumn. It was immediately noted that the new strain is much more contagious – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that this type of coronavirus is spreading 70 percent faster.
In addition, experts from the British government group NERVTAG suggested that the British strain may cause a more severe course of the disease: scientists compared mortality in the UK among people infected with different variants of the virus, and concluded that the new strain has a mortality rate of about 30% higher. So far, these are assumptions – data from other countries are required for a confident assessment, and most sources say that the strain is no more dangerous than the usual variant.
South Africa
Both in foggy England and in sultry Africa, the virus mutated at the same time. The first samples were collected in October, and the information was published at the end of December – on the 22nd. The World Health Organization provided data on the contagiousness of the virus: by mid-November, the mutation had displaced other variants of the coronavirus in three provinces at once. And the government of the country associates the second wave of diseases with a new strain.
At the same time, young people without chronic diseases began to get sick more often. However, there are no facts yet that the South African strain causes a complicated disease.
Brazil – Japan
Unlike the British and African strains, the Japanese-Brazilian type is quite fresh – it was discovered already in 2021, in early January. Japanese epidemiologists noticed a mutation in four tourists who returned from Brazil. So far it has been poorly studied, but it is assumed that it may be a cross-variant of the African and British viruses.
In addition, there are versions that the strain can cause repeated illness. According to statistics, about 75% of the population in Brazilian Manaus got sick in October, and since mid-December there has been a new increase in infections.
Find and destroy
On January 18, mass vaccination began in Russia. However, it is forbidden to vaccinate those who are ill. To do this, it would be good to find out what is with the antibodies in the body. Will current tests detect a mutated virus?
Scientists say that current tests are able to determine whether a person is sick or not, even if new strains have settled in the body. However, at the current stage, only the polarity is determined, yes-no. Tests that distinguish between strains have not yet been put on stream, but there is talk of creating them. For example, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said that a version of a PCR test is being prepared for registration in Russia, which will distinguish a familiar virus from a virus with new mutations.
Rospotrebnadzor says that all changes in the virus are only fractions of the coronavirus genome. This means that both diagnosis and vaccination will be effective: "The coronavirus genome is 30 thousand sequences. At the moment, the most frequent mutation that is noted is only 12, 18, 24 sequence violations. This is a thousandth of a percent," said Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Gorelov.
Recent studies show that the existing Sputnik V and Pfizer vaccines are coping with new strains. Both British and South African. Despite claims that the South African type has received a mutation that helps to elude the antibodies that produce vaccines.
Scientists say that a matrix has already been created for a coronavirus vaccine, the composition of which may vary. Flu vaccines are cited as an example: "An example of a flu vaccine is sufficient for everyone. Its composition varies, it is regulated by WHO depending on those strains that prevail in the northern or southern hemisphere when seasonal diseases replace each other," Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Gorelov.
It will take about a week to process the Sputnik V or Pfizer vaccines for new mutations, scientists say. This is a procedure that does not even require testing on animals and volunteers.
The British strain of coronavirus has now been detected in 33 European countries, and the South African one in 16.
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