- A major mutation found in the coronavirus variants in South Africa and Brazil has now been detected in the variant found in the UK.
- Scientists believe the E488K mutation can help the coronavirus evade antibodies.
- They fear it could mean that vaccines work less well or that people get reinfected.
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The coronavirus variant, first found in the UK and spreading around the world, appears to be developing a new mutation that scientists fear could help viruses bypass vaccines.
The mutation is also found in the variants found in South Africa and Brazil. Scientists believe this allows the virus to escape from antibodies produced by the body, after immunization or a previous coronavirus infection. Vaccines and certain antibody drugs may therefore not work as well.
Eleven cases of the variant, dubbed B.1.1.7, had the E484K mutation in a data set of more than 200,000 in the UK, Public Health England said Jan. 26.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said the mutation was a “concern.”
The fact that the UK variant appears to have this mutation “shows that the virus is very likely to adapt to our immune response,” he said.
“The South African variant may be able to more efficiently re-infect individuals previously infected with the original form of the virus,” he said in a statement. “This is probably due in part to the E484K mutation which can attenuate the immune response.”
He said the mutation can also affect how long the antibody response lasts.
The variant detected in the UK has been sequenced in 55 different countries, including the US. According to reports based on GISAID data, there are 342 cases in the US.
Vaccine maker Novavax said on Thursday that its COVID-19 vaccine was less effective for the variant found in South Africa. Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its COVID-19 shot was less effective in South Africa – scientists have suggested it was due to the E484K mutation.
Pfizer and Moderna have both said their COVID-19 vaccines, albeit a little less well, work against man-made lab variants containing the mutation. Neither company has tested for real-world variants of the coronavirus.
‘Worrying development’
“If this E484K mutation is obtained by most of the UK B.1.1.7 variants, the recent reassurances from recent studies show that the mRNA vaccines [like Moderna and Pfizers] will still provide optimal protection against the original British variant may no longer be applicable, “said Dr. Julian Tang, clinical virologist at the University of Leicester, in a statement.
“It’s a worrying development, although not entirely unexpected,” said Tang.
Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said in a statement that while reviews have not yet been made of the effectiveness of the vaccines currently used in the UK – from drug manufacturers Pfizer and AstraZeneca – it was possible that they work less well against B.1.1.7 variants with this mutation.
Virus mutations occur when a virus replicates and makes mistakes. This is a normal process, but mutations become a concern when they begin to affect the virus’s behavior.
Public Health England reported that preliminary information suggests that more than one “acquisition event” had caused the E484K mutation.
It may also have arisen because someone was infected with both the South African or Brazilian variant and the variant found in the UK, Tang said. Tang added that this is seen in flu viruses, but more rare in coronaviruses.
Young said that whatever changes have occurred in the B.1.1.7 or other virus variants, standard measures to limit transmission – for example, washing hands and social distancing – will prevent infection.