Another new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries, according to scientists.
Variant B1525 is similar to B117 – the highly contagious strain found in Britain in mid-December, which has since reached the United States, the Guardian reported.
The new variant has appeared in 10 countries so far, including Denmark, USA, Nigeria and Australia. Thirty-two cases have been reported in the UK. No case of the new mutant has yet been reported in the United States.
The first strings dated back to December, the report noted.
Scientists are working to learn more about B1525, including how it spreads and what effects vaccines can have on it.
“We still don’t know how well this [new] the variant will spread, but if it succeeds, it can be assumed that the immunity from any previous vaccine or infection will be attenuated, ”said Dr. Simon Clarke, associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, to the Guardian.
But what is worrying is that the new variant contains a number of mutations, including the E484K mutation for the protein spike, which helps the virus to enter cells.
Experts like Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, are calling for peak tests for B1525, saying it was found with another mutation “that is likely to help it escape our antibodies”.
The mutation is also present in variants from South Africa and Brazil, which have been shown to be more resistant to vaccines than other strains.
One study found that the B117 strain, however, can be up to 70 percent more deadly than previous versions of the virus.
The B1525 news, which is the subject of a study by the University of Edinburgh, comes in the wake of a report that found at least seven new variants of the coronavirus circulating in the United States.