A new variant of Covid has been discovered – here’s what we know so far

LONDON – A new variant of the coronavirus identified in Brazil has exacerbated the concern among public health experts and generated warnings that additional new strains would likely develop.

The news of the variant in Brazil comes after two separate mutant strains of the virus were discovered in the UK and South Africa earlier this year.

Researchers are urgently studying variants of Covid, which are suspected of sharing similar characteristics, to gain a better understanding of the threat they pose.

Viruses mutate naturally and there is no evidence that the newly discovered strains have more severe disease results.

However, Covid variants are believed to be more transmissible than the original that started the pandemic, and this could lead to a greater number of serious infections and additional deaths.

Health authorities recommend hand washing, physical distance and the use of personal protective equipment as a means of preventing the spread of the virus.

Earlier this month, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said it detected a new variant of Covid in four travelers from the state of Amazonas in Brazil on January 2.

A man in his 40s, who was found to be asymptomatic on arrival in Japan, was hospitalized because his respiratory condition worsened. A woman in her 30s reported a sore throat and headache, a man aged 10 to 19 had a fever, and a young woman over 10 was asymptomatic.

This variant of the virus belongs to the B.1.1.248 strain and has 12 mutations in the spike protein, NIID said. Peak proteins are used by the virus to enter cells in the body.

The NIID said it is difficult to determine immediately how infectious the new strain is and the effectiveness of vaccines against it.

To date, Brazil has recorded more than 8.3 million cases of Covid and 207,000 deaths from viruses, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The South American country is second only to the USA in Covid-related deaths worldwide.

The United Kingdom imposed a ban on travelers from South America (and Portugal and Cape Verde) on Friday, in an effort to prevent people from bringing the new variant into the country.

The country’s transport minister, Grant Shapps, told the BBC it was a precautionary measure. He added that scientists think coronavirus vaccines will work in the new variant.

“We took a look at this particular mutation, unlike many thousands more, very carefully, we saw that there may be a problem, not so much that the vaccine doesn’t work, in fact scientists think it will work, but just the fact is more propagable, “said Shapps, according to Reuters.

On Thursday, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, told ITV that there was “a little more risk” in relation to the Covid variant identified in Brazil with regard to the vaccine’s effectiveness.

On December 14, health authorities in the United Kingdom reported a variant to WHO identified as SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01. It is unclear how the new strain originated, but preliminary findings have determined that it is highly infectious.

It initially appeared in southeastern England, but has since become the dominant strain in much of Britain and has spread to more than 50 other countries. As a result, several nations have imposed bans on UK travelers.

Separately, South African national authorities on December 18 announced the detection of the 501Y.V2 variant. Preliminary studies have shown that the 501Y.V2 variant has also increased transmissibility. Since then, it has been found in at least 20 other countries.

The variants, which originated separately, share a genetic mutation of the spike protein.

Studies are underway to understand the transmissibility and severity of Covid’s newly discovered variants, as well as their potential impact on vaccines.

After approximately 10 months of relative inactivity, “we began to see a remarkable evolution of SARS-CoV-2 with a repeated evolutionary pattern in the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern emerging in the UK, South Africa and Brazil,” Dr. Trevor Bedford, a virologist and associate professor at the University of Washington, said via Twitter on Thursday.

Bedford, who also works with Fred Hutch’s Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Division, warned that the hypothesis was “highly speculative” at this point. “But separately, the fact that we’ve seen three variants of concern popping up since September suggests that there’s probably more to come.”

To date, more than 93.2 million people have contracted Covid-19 worldwide, with 1.99 million deaths.

Professor Devi Sridhar, head of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said on Friday that the world had become “the playground of the virus to mutate and evolve, (especially) in countries that have allowed a higher prevalence”.