The world is on the edge with the emergence of three new strains of COVID-19, each of which shows signs of being more dangerous and harmful during an already devastating pandemic.
Scientists are closely watching the new variants that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil – and that have now reached the United States.
Viruses constantly make copies of themselves as they spread, sometimes creating mutations that die – and other times, evolving into others that give them an advantage.
With these changes, they can become resistant to vaccines and other treatments.
The trio is being monitored to see how easily they spread, whether they are more deadly and whether vaccines and proven treatments are still effective against them.
“Not all mutations are created equal,” said Mary Petrone, an infectious disease specialist at Yale University. “The virus will be lucky every now and then.”
Here’s what we know about each new variant so far:
United Kingdom variant
This variant – also known as B117 – was first detected after an unexpected increase in COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom in early December.
Scientists raised the alarm about the new strain because it had changes in the “pico” protein – the part of the virus that makes it infectious.
Later, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that these fears were correct – saying that the new variant appeared to be at least 70% more transmissible.
Initially, the strain was not believed to cause worse disease or more death.
But British officials changed course after new research indicated that it is linked to slightly more fatalities in older adults.
The death rate from coronavirus among 60-year-olds in the UK was around 10 per 10,000. But with the new strain, there were about 13 or 14 deaths in the same population, USA Today reported.
The most recent variant also appears to be dominated by symptoms other than those associated with the original COVID-19 virus.
Patients with tension are more likely to suffer from sore throat, muscle aches and fatigue, according to research released by the UK’s Office of National Statistics.
But so far, there is no reason to panic about the available COVID-19 vaccines not working to protect against the UK strain.
White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the vaccines must still be effective, although there may be a “very small decrease” in protection.
“The effectiveness mattress you have is so big that it will not have a negative impact,” said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
South African variant
This mutation, known as the 501Y.V2 variant, first alarmed experts when it quickly took over as the dominant strain in some regions of South Africa in December.
The strain accounted for more than 90 percent of new cases that month in Eastern Cape Province, then spread to Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
Experts believe it is about 50% more contagious, which means it is more effective for entering human cells.
The variant has a mutation called 484, which experts fear may somehow be able to pass the antibodies on to infect people who have already been infected with the virus, USA Today reported.
The mutation may mean that the strain is less susceptible to antibody or plasma drugs from survivors of COVID-19, which help people fight the virus.
Experts are also concerned with the performance of vaccines with the variant.
A small preliminary study found that the Novavax vaccine was only 49.4 percent effective against the strain, although it is 90 percent overall effective against the virus, the drugmaker said.
The modern biotechnology company is developing a new boost to the COVID-19 vaccine after research showed that the vaccine’s neutralizing antibody response to the South African variant was six times weaker than with other strains.
Brazil variant
The Brazil strain, known as the P.1 variant, was first identified in four travelers who were tested during routine screening at Haneda Airport, near Tokyo, Japan.
Experts said the variant is also likely to be more contagious than the original coronavirus strain, although it has not been definitively proven because it has mutations similar to British and South African strains.
The strain quickly became prevalent, although in some regions of Brazil, it accounted for about half of new infections in the Amazonian city of Manaus in December.
It is not clear whether the variant causes more serious illness, which would lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.
But there are already concerns that, like the South African variant, it may be resistant to natural immunity – which would reduce hopes of collective immunity.
In Manaus, a 29-year-old woman who caught the virus in March was infected with the most recent variant in December, USA Today reported.
Fauci said experts are already looking for ways to adjust vaccines and treatments to maintain their effectiveness with new strains.
“What we will do and are doing is in the preparations for the possibility that … in the future, we may need to modify and update the vaccines,” said Fauci.
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