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Researchers are particularly concerned that the Е484К mutation of the spike protein, present in a new variant of COVID-19, could prove resistant to certain vaccines. They say the new variant should be studied through peak testing.
Another variant of COVID-19 with a potentially worrisome set of mutations has been found in the UK, The Guardian reported, citing researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
The new variant, called B1525, has been detected by genome sequencing in at least 10 countries. The first sequences appeared in December and are said to have surfaced in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
According to the scientists, B1525 is genome-like to the Kent variant, or B117 – first identified in South East England last September and now present in more than 80 countries around the world. It is estimated to be between 30 and 70 percent more deadly and between 35 and 45 percent more communicable than the original virus.
The “set of mutations of potential concern” refers in part to the Е484К mutation of the spike protein, which is also present in Brazil and South African variants of the novel coronavirus.
Researchers say Е484К makes the virus immune to antibodies.
According to Dr. Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, the presence of the E484K mutation in the South African variant is responsible for resistance to some vaccines.
“We don’t know yet how good this is [new] variant will spread, but if successful, it can be assumed that immunity to a vaccine or previous infection will be weakened, ”he said.
Dr. Clarke said that until more data is available on the new variant, it should undergo peak testing.
“I think until we know more about these variants, all variants with E484K should undergo peak testing because it appears to resist immunity regardless of how it is generated.”
At least 32 cases of the new variant of the coronavirus have been reported in the UK. 35 infections have been identified in Denmark, 12 – in Nigeria, seven and five – in the United States and France, respectively, and the first cases have been reported in Ghana, Australia, Canada, Jordan and Spain.