- A new variant of the coronavirus has been reported in the United States, United Kingdom and 9 other countries.
- One of its mutations may help you escape neutralizing antibodies, an expert said.
- Mutations in the virus are one of the biggest obstacles to ending the pandemic.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
A new variant with three “biological mutations” has been detected in 11 countries so far, according to a new academic report.
This new variant, B.1.525, has been found on several continents, academics at the University of Edinburgh noted in an assessment of the variant published on Monday.
Here is the list of countries where it was found:
- The USA
- Canada
- Denmark
- The United Kingdom
- France
- Belgium
- Spain
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Jordan
- Australia
Countries differ widely in their ability to detect different variants, and it is possible that the variant is in more places that have not yet realized it.
This recently reported variant carries the E484K mutation.
This mutation was also found in variant B.1.1.7 that was originally detected in the United Kingdom, and in variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.28 that emerged from South Africa and Brazil, respectively.
The fear is that this mutation could help the vaccine escape the neutralizing antibodies.
Professor Ravi Gupta, a specialist in clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said that in addition to the E484K, the variant also carries another mutation “that probably helps to escape our antibodies,” reported The Irish Times.
The variant carries two other mutations that are reported to have “biological significance”, said the Scotland report. They are called Q677H and F888L.
The reason the variant is already found in so many countries is that it has been around for some time. The data the scientists are analyzing comes from samples collected earlier.
The first sample in which they detected this variant dates from December 15, 2020.
More variants are appearing around the world. Many of them do not significantly change the behavior of the virus.
But some are potentially dangerous. They can make the virus more contagious and can also make it more lethal or better escape existing vaccines.
It takes time to completely research new variants, so the first conclusions about what changes a variant brings are usually tentative.
Seven new variants that could be more contagious have been reported in the U.S., Insider Sarah Al-Arshani reported this week.
Another variant of concern was identified in Uganda on Friday, reported Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce of Insider.
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Dr. Simon Clarke, a specialist in cell microbiology at the University of Reading, said: “We still don’t know how this variant will spread, but if it succeeds, it can be assumed that the immunity of any previous vaccine or infection will be attenuated” , Reported The Guardian.
The spread of these new variants could mean that the coronavirus pandemic may be here to stay, according to a report by Andrew Dunn, Aria Bendix and Hilary Brueck from Insider.