Just as the world saw hope with the approval of several covid-19 vaccines and the launch of immunization plans, authorities in England announced in mid-December that they had discovered a new strain of the virus.
The news troubled the whole world, with many doubts about the mutation’s appearance: Was it more deadly? Are the symptoms more serious? Does it spread faster? Will the vaccine work?
The biggest fear was whether this variant of SARS-CoV-2 was more deadly than its predecessor in a context where many countries experience a saturation of hospitals by sick people and others lack sophistication.
Due to how recent the situation is, there is not much scientific information on the subject, but England’s health authorities have had their initial assessment and for the time being rules out that the variant is more deadly.
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New strain detected
English Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, informed the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 14, 2020 about a new strain of the coronavirus (covid-19).
The English authorities associate this new variant with the increase in the number of cases and hospital admissions in the South West of England, with approximately 1,108 infections attributed to the mutation.
In his statements, Hancock explained that the first analysis showed that the new strain could be associated with the increase in the number of cases, but it did not exactly cause the increase, as they occurred in areas with flexible measures.
In addition, the secretary indicated that although more than 10,000 cases have been diagnosed, people are still not entirely sure to what extent the variant can make the infections worse.
The British Medical Journal medical journal indicates the variant VUI-202012/01 (the first “variant under investigation” in December 2020) is determined by an estimated set of more than 17 changes or mutations.
This mutation is a change in the protein S o Pico, with which the virus tends to bind to receptors and angiotensin converting enzyme; that’s what causes it to enter the lung cell and cause damage to the lungs.
Important: how should Honduras prepare for a new form of coronavirus?
Does the vaccine work?
This strain was discovered by an investigation conducted by the in early December Consornio Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG UK), an association founded in the UK in April 2020 to capture samples of SARS-CoV-2.
The episode was characterized by an increase in the number of case reports to more than tripled during the 14 days running from epidemiological week 41 to 50 (October 5 to December 13, 2020), according to the WHO report. Although there was already a record of this new species in September.
Unsurprisingly, viruses change their genetic structure and so strains or variants appear. Therefore, one of the main questions that arise is the effectiveness of the vaccine against this new variant.
For one thing, the main function of a vaccine is to generate immunity for the body against a disease by producing antibodies that will then protect it from future infections, as the immune system can recognize and destroy the infectious agent.
In the case of the Pfizer vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, experts say it can attack different parts of the virus despite the mutation, but they remain vigilant in case the virus continues to show more variants. This would lead to reprogramming of the vaccine.
The new species has already spread to several European countries and is associated with an increase in the number of cases in South West England. Likewise, Chile discovered its first case and the United States is keeping a close eye on a suspect.
In the case of Honduras, the main problem is that it would not really be known which variant it is, as much more specific tests are needed to detect it and are therefore usually more expensive.
Also read: Ministry of Health assures four million vaccines will come to Honduras
What is lethality?
While it has been speculated that the new strain could be the cause of greater transmission, there is not enough information so far to verify this hypothesis as it is detailed that they do not have the correct limitations in the sites showing the greatest indication of infections had.
In addition, official data shows more signs of infections, ranging from about 32,500 between December 27th to more than 53,000 new cases recorded on December 29th in England.
On the other hand, deaths show a result from 347 deaths to an increase of 414 deaths from this disease, concluding that the new species may be more contagious, but not more deadly.
Then the Department of Health of England presented a report (you can see it here) containing the initial findings of a study of people infected with this mutation, ruling out any indication of greater lethality.
The preliminary results of the cohort study found no statistically significant differences in hospitalization and death at 28 days between the cases with the variant (ie the new strain) and the wild-type comparison cases, ”concludes the analysis.
The researchers then stated that “there were no significant differences in the risk of reinfection between the variant cases and the comparison group”.
On the other hand, it is very hasty to draw conclusions about this new variant, as it is still under constant observation by the World Health Organization and the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG UK).
So far, the main WHO recommendations to reduce the risk of infection with this new mutation have been constant hand washing and keeping a distance.
Conclusion:
The claim that the new strain of the coronavirus is more deadly than the original False.
The only study to date published by the Department of Health of England (where the variant was detected) rules out an increase in the number of deaths or an increase in hospital admissions due to this mutation in any studied group.
The preliminary results of the cohort study found no statistically significant differences in hospitalization and death at 28 days between the cases with the variant (ie the new strain) and the wild-type comparison cases, ”concludes the analysis.
However, experts have pushed for biosafety measures to be enforced, as it is highly likely that this variant is more contagious, which would increase the number of cases and hospital saturation.