“The most mutated” Covid strain in the world with 34 mutations is found because the fear is growing. The super variant can extend the pandemic

Scientists have discovered what is believed to be the most mutated Covid strain in the world, amid fears that new super variants could prolong the pandemic.

The team of experts revealed their findings in a pre-print research paper reporting that the coronavirus variant contains 34 mutations.

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And among those changes are 14 within the spike protein – the part of the virus that it uses to get into human cells and make people sick.

The Brazilian variant has a total of 18 mutations, with 10 mutations in the peak, while the British strain has 17 mutations, including eight in key protein.

The apparently new variant also contains the worrying E484K change – also called an “escape mutation” – that helps the virus defeat antibodies and get into other troubling strains.

The variant of interest (VOI) was discovered in three air travelers arriving in Angola from Tanzania in mid-February – both countries have been on the UK’s red list since January.

Scientists from the Angola Ministry of Health, the Africa CDC, the universities of Oxford and Cape Town, and multi-institutional research agency KRISP warned that the variant needs “urgent research”.

They also warned of the danger, as Tanzania has a “largely undocumented epidemic” with “few public health measures” – with the official number of cases of only 509 infections with 21 deaths.

The Tanzanian government has been guilty of Covid denial, and President John Magufuli called for prayers and herbal-infused steam to defeat the virus until his sudden death in March.

The raging spread of the virus is feared as cases amplify these mutations – making the bug more deadly, transmittable, and more adept at dodging antibodies.

Dr. William A. Haseltine, a former Havard professor, told The Sun Online that the new variant is “very concerning” because of the large number of mutations, the type of mutations and the fact that it appears to come from a different “lineage” of the virus. . .

Most of the remarkable variants can be traced back to the B1 strain – but because of this, the new variants seem to have evolved from a different source.

He also expressed concern about the ‘vacuum of information’ emanating from Tanzania, which hinders monitoring of the potentially dangerous new mutations.

“These mutations can increase the concentration of the virus in infected people, which can help prolong infection and increase transmittance,” said Dr. Haseltine on The Sun Online.

He added: “The Tanzanian variety shows the enormous versatility of this virus.

“Originally many expected this virus to be relatively stable, but it shows us with this variant and others that this is not really the case.”

In the paper, the team warned that the “constellation of mutations” could mean that the variant is more resistant to antibodies and vaccines, as well as more infectious.

There is a vacuum of information coming from Tanzania that needs to be addressed immediately for Tanzanians and for the health of the world.

Dr. William A. Haseltine

The new VOI has temporarily been renamed A.VOI.V2, while Dr. Haseltine has called it the “Tanzania variant”.

And the Human Vaccines Project said the virus carries “more mutations” than any previous strain.

As fears grow, rampant Covid outbreaks around the world – such as in Brazil and India – could derail efforts to beat the pandemic.

Brazil has been described as a “biological Fukushima” due to its uncontrolled spread, while India is reaching record levels of infection with more than 200,000 new cases every day.

Both have spawned new variants such as the P1 from Brazil and the “double mutant” Covid from India.

World Health Organization (WHO) leaders have warned the global outbreak as “far from over” as super variants continue to increase.

The worldwide daily number of cases is now reaching high levels since the pandemic peak last year, with more than 800,000 infections daily.

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New mutations in the coronavirus can make it more difficult for the body’s immune system, which is prepared to look for the “original” strain, either through vaccination or from a previous infection, to recognize it.

Antibodies – proteins made by the immune system to fight the virus – can be weaker against new strains.

The threat of new strains of coronavirus also means that masks and social distancing may be needed well into 2022, despite the rollout of vaccines, and it is not clear when border controls will be relaxed.

And it is feared that if a new variant is seized, further lockdowns will be needed to stem and stop the spread.

Studies have shown that current vaccines still work against new variants, but may be less effective.

Scientists are already working on modified vaccines to deal with new mutations in the future, just like the flu vaccine that changes every year

Dr. Haseltine told The Sun Online that it is “absolutely critical” that Covid’s rampant spread in countries like Brazil and India is being ruled to defeat the pandemic.

And he warned that areas where there are gaps in Covid’s global monitoring, such as Tanzania, could be causing more surprise mutations.

He said: “The more the virus spreads, the more variants emerge, and the more likely the virus will increase transmittance, evade our immune response, and increase virulence.

“In addition to the outbreaks in Brazil and India, we would add outbreaks in Eastern Europe, South America, North America, including here in the US.

“There is a vacuum of information coming from Tanzania that needs to be addressed immediately for the Tanzanians and for the health of the world.”

The lead expert warned that virus mutations pose a “serious threat” to our current arsenal of vaccines – and there may already be variants that evade first-generation injections.

“We believe, due to a lack of systematic surveillance, that there are as yet unobserved variants with improved properties to increase transmission, disease and immune evasion,” he said.

He added that it is “crucial” that as many people as possible are vaccinated as soon as possible.

Speaking to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh last week, WHO Special Envoy Dr David Nabarro said new variants will be a “regular” occurrence while the virus is still prevalent around the world.

He warned, “The pandemic is far from over. Every week we see four and a half million cases being reported and know this is a massive underestimate.

And we are still seeing a significant number of deaths – nearly three million.

“What I want to emphasize is that the pandemic is increasing everywhere.”

Dr. Tony Lockett, of King’s College London’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, previously told The Sun Online about the prospect of a devastating new mutation emerging from the rampant global spread.

He said, “The effect – well, it can be devastating – much worse than the original, as younger people can get sicker and those who have had the virus become re-infected with the new species.

“It’s really scary.”

According to a study of epidemiologists from The People’s Vaccine Alliance, mutations of the coronavirus could make vaccines obsolete within a year.