A new variant of the Corona virus puts researchers in South Africa on alert

Genetic researchers who have been searching for new types of Corona Virus They say they’ve found a troublesome new breed that bears many of the same characteristics as other breeds, including alpha, beta and gamma.

The variant they’re looking for, called C.1.2, has appeared all over the South Africa, as well as in seven other countries in Africa and Asia and the Pacific, according to the researchers’ report.

They are still not sure if mutations could make the strain more dangerous, but C.1.2 carries changes that gave other strains greater transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system response at a certain level.

Having more mutations does not necessarily mean more risk – some mutations can weaken the virus and it is a set of changes that can determine whether the virus becomes more efficient.

The researchers further explained that an additional mutation could cancel out other effects.

But the team, which includes virologist Benny Moore from South Africa’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases, says they are following this closely.

The researchers wrote in a report published online as a preprint – still without peer review.

“This variant was detected during the third wave of infections in South Africa from May 2021 onwards and was detected in seven other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Identification of novel variants of SARS-CoV-2 is usually associated with new waves of infection.”

It is too early to designate the variable as a variable of interest or a variable related to it World Health Organization (WHO), so it still does not have a Greek alphabetical designation.

The World Health Organization currently cites four variables of concern that can be more easily transmitted, affect disease severity or prevent testing, vaccines or treatments: alpha or b 1.1.7; Beta or B.1.351; gamma or p.1; and Delta or B.1.617.2.
Variants of interest, which have disturbing mutations and have caused clusters of diseases, include Eta or B.1,525; Iota or B.1.526; Kappa or B.1.617.1 and Lambda or C.37, according to the World Health Organization.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead for Covid-19, noted that very few people diagnosed with coronavirus had the C.1.2 variant.

“So far, there are about 100 C.1.2 sequences reported globally, first reports from May 21 from South Africa,” she said on Twitter.

“At the moment, it does not appear that C.1.2 is increasing in circulation,” she added. Kerkhove said the WHO would update people on its website and through a press conference if that changed.

“Monitoring and evaluation of variables is ongoing and is very important to understand the evolution of this virus in the fight against Covid-19 and to adapt strategies as needed,” she added. So far, Van Kerkhove said, the delta variant is still dominant.

Some variants, such as Alpha and Delta, quickly spread to become the dominant variants in most parts of the world.

Others spread regionally, including Beta and Gamma. Other strains seem worrisome but have only caused sporadic outbreaks.

Michael Needleman, yes CNN, contributed to this report.
(This text is translated. To read the original text in English, click here)