Researchers at Texas A&M University have identified a variant of the COVID-19 virus that they say has genetic markers that suggest possible antibody resistance, according to a statement from the university.
“We don’t know the full significance of this variant at this time, but it has a combination of mutations similar to other internationally notifiable variants of care,” said Ben Neuman, a lead virologist at the university’s Global Health Research Complex. “This variant combines genetic markers that are individually associated with rapid spread, severe disease and high resistance to neutralizing antibodies.”
The so-called BV-1 is related to the B.1.1.7 variant that caused a wave in the United Kingdom, the university said.
Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at UCSF, said she is not yet concerned about this variant, as she has not seen the actual peer-reviewed data that it is resistant to antibodies.
“There were initially reports that B.1.351 [the variant first identified in South Africa], and other variants were resistant to antibodies, but these were reversed by other reports and the 6-month data on the Pfizer vaccine rollout, which showed 100% efficacy against serious diseases, even with the B.1.352 variant, ‘ Gandhi explained in an email. “In addition, variants are included in vaccines, especially if we consider T cell responses generated by the vaccines capable of neutralizing different variants.”
Texas A&M researchers identified a single case of the variant in the university’s Global Health Research Complex in a saliva sample taken from a Texas A&M student in early March.
The variant is named after the ‘Brazos Valley’, the seven-county region where Texas A&M is located.
As the United States continues to release vaccines, worrisome variants are spreading, causing spikes in some states. California has prevented a significant rise in the number of cases so far. The seven-day positivity rate in the state was 1.5% as of Wednesday, one of the lowest in the country.