NEW DELHI: The new strain of coronavirus first found in the UK has caused worldwide uproar as it is believed to be more contagious than other SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Different countries, including India, have announced varying degrees of restraint to prevent the spread of the mutated coronavirus, even as the world gradually begins its backlash against the pandemic with early vaccination campaigns.
However, there is a good chance that the new variant of Covid-19 is not that harmful after all. How?
The new variant – known as B.1.1.7 or VUI-202012/01 – is certainly not the first mutation of SARS-Cov-2, but is certainly the first “under investigation”.
For the record, more than 12,000 mutations were detected in the first 50,000 genomes of the virus, and scientists have now recorded more than four times that number.
So far, there is little evidence that the new strain of the virus results in a more severe form of Covid-19, although there is plenty of evidence that it is more transmissible or more contagious – and there is likely a blessing in disguise. .
According to Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, UK, “the general rule in virology is that better transmission is associated with milder disease”.
This is not really a new hypothesis – it is actually based on the “law of diminishing virulence” proposed by 19th century physician Theobald Smith.
According to Smith, there is a “delicate balance” between a pathogen and a host that allows the virus to evolve into a less lethal strain.
Virologists say that if a virus mutates to become more or more deadly, chances are it will kill its host even before it has a chance to infect others and spread.
Therefore, a mutation could be the pathogen’s response to become more transmissible to become as contagious as possible.
For example, the Ebola virus that spread quickly but was extremely deadly, killing the host and eventually extinguishing as the chance of spreading diminished.
Jones also cited the case of bird flu, which showed in lab experiments that when the virus became more transmissible, it “killed none of the animals used” – indicating that the virus could be deadly or more contagious, but not both.
However, Jonathan Ball, a professor of virology at the University of Nottingham, advises against warning such thinking, which he calls ‘lazy’ – citing the examples of both the rabies virus and HIV.
In the case of HIV, which has killed more than 30 million people worldwide, mutations may also explain why a vaccine has proven elusive.
Ball’s argument is supported by Ravindra Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, who points out that a pathogen can kill the host if it has already spread, which is “why HIV kills the host yet spreads so widely.”
And while experts are divided on whether a mutation is more or less likely to be fatal, they agree on one thing: don’t give the virus a chance to evolve and find a series of beneficial mutations.
Different countries, including India, have announced varying degrees of restraint to prevent the spread of the mutated coronavirus, even as the world gradually begins its backlash against the pandemic with early vaccination campaigns.
However, there is a good chance that the new variant of Covid-19 is not that harmful after all. How?
The new variant – known as B.1.1.7 or VUI-202012/01 – is certainly not the first mutation of SARS-Cov-2, but is certainly the first “under investigation”.
For the record, more than 12,000 mutations were detected in the first 50,000 genomes of the virus, and scientists have now recorded more than four times that number.
So far, there is little evidence that the new strain of the virus results in a more severe form of Covid-19, although there is plenty of evidence that it is more transmissible or more contagious – and there is likely a blessing in disguise. .
According to Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, UK, “the general rule in virology is that better transmission is associated with milder disease”.
This is not really a new hypothesis – it is actually based on the “law of diminishing virulence” proposed by 19th century physician Theobald Smith.
According to Smith, there is a “delicate balance” between a pathogen and a host that allows the virus to evolve into a less lethal strain.
Virologists say that if a virus mutates to become more or more deadly, chances are it will kill its host even before it has a chance to infect others and spread.
Therefore, a mutation could be the pathogen’s response to become more transmissible to become as contagious as possible.
For example, the Ebola virus that spread quickly but was extremely deadly, killing the host and eventually extinguishing as the chance of spreading diminished.
Jones also cited the case of bird flu, which showed in lab experiments that when the virus became more transmissible, it “killed none of the animals used” – indicating that the virus could be deadly or more contagious, but not both.
However, Jonathan Ball, a professor of virology at the University of Nottingham, advises against warning such thinking, which he calls ‘lazy’ – citing the examples of both the rabies virus and HIV.
In the case of HIV, which has killed more than 30 million people worldwide, mutations may also explain why a vaccine has proven elusive.
Ball’s argument is supported by Ravindra Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, who points out that a pathogen can kill the host if it has already spread, which is “why HIV kills the host yet spreads so widely.”
And while experts are divided on whether a mutation is more or less likely to be fatal, they agree on one thing: don’t give the virus a chance to evolve and find a series of beneficial mutations.