Oregon researchers found a case of a rapidly spreading variant of COVID-19 with a mutation that could be less affected by existing vaccines designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The case, found on February 6, involved the United Kingdom variant, also known as B.1.1.7 and considered more deadly and contagious than the original strain of COVID-19.
This variant has been found in almost every state in the USA. But the Oregon case also had an E484K mutation that was first detected in South Africa’s COVID-19 variant in November.
Other cases of the UK variant combined with this mutation have been found in Britain, France and Portugal, according to a coronavirus variant tracking database. Only one other case in the United States was recorded in the database.
Brian O’Roak, a geneticist at Oregon Health & Science University who led the work, told the New York Times that the case “happened spontaneously” and was not transported anywhere else in the world, according to genetic analyzes.
O’Roak and his colleagues analyzed 13 test results from coronavirus samples collected by the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory, the Times reported. Ten of the samples were variant B.1.1.7. One of these 10 had the E484K mutation.
The Oregon Health Authority said it was “too early to speculate” about how the spread of COVID-19 variants affects the effectiveness of vaccines currently approved in the United States by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer.
“Current vaccines are yet to protect against serious infections, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths,” the agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The researchers found that human antibodies, which fight the disease, are less effective against COVID-19 viruses with the E484K mutation, according to an article that has not yet been reviewed by experts. A February research report also found that the Pfizer vaccine could be less effective against the South African variant, which includes the E484K mutation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to increase the monitoring and laboratory sequencing of COVID-19 strains in the United States to get a clearer picture of their characteristics.
Oregon’s first case of a variant of Brazil’s COVID-19 was also identified Tuesday in Douglas County.
The Brazil variant, which is known as the P.1 variant, also has the E484K mutation that scientists have found worrying. The Oregonian who contracted the Brazil variant had a known travel history before the test was positive, the state health official said.
– Jaimie Ding
[email protected]; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding