Scientists suggest not to be alarmed by coronavirus strains

Is it easier to spread? Are people getting sick? Does this mean that treatments and vaccines will not work? The questions are multiplying as fast as the new strains of coronavirus, mainly the one that is now spreading in England. Scientists say there are concerns, but the new strains should not cause alarm.

“There is no evidence that the severity is increasing” from COVID-19 for the latest strain, WHO emergency director Dr Michael Ryan said on Monday.

“We don’t want to overreact,” U.S. government chief infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN.

Concerns have been rising since Saturday when the British prime minister said a new strain of coronavirus appears to be spreading more easily than previous ones and is spreading rapidly in England. Dozens of countries have banned flights from the United Kingdom, and the south of England has been placed under strict blocking measures.

Here are some questions and answers about what is known so far about the virus.

Where did this new strain come from?

New variants have been seen almost since the virus was detected in China almost a year ago. Viruses often develop small changes (mutations) as they reproduce and spread in a population, which is “natural and predictable,” the WHO said in a statement Monday.

“Most of the mutations are insignificant. Changing one or two letters of the genetic alphabet doesn’t make much of a difference in the ability to cause disease, “said Dr. Philip Landrigan, who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and now runs a program. Global Health at Boston College.

A more worrying situation is when a virus moves by changing the proteins on its surface to help it get rid of drugs or the immune system or if it acquires many changes that make it very different from previous versions.

How does a strain become dominant?

This can happen if it is a “founding” strain – the first to take root and begin to spread in an area – or because “super-widespread” events have helped it to establish itself.

It can also happen if a mutation gives a new variant an advantage, such as helping it spread more easily than other circulating strains, as might be the case in the UK.

“It’s more contagious than the original strain,” Landrigan said. “The reason it becomes the dominant strain in England is that it outperforms other strains, moves faster and infects more people, so it wins the race.”

Moncef Slaoui, an adviser to the US government on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, said scientists are still working to confirm whether the strain in England is spreading more easily.

The strain was first detected in September, WHO officials said.

What’s worrying about that?

It has several mutations – almost two dozen – and eight are in the protein spike that the virus uses to attach and infect cells. This protein is what it uses for the development of vaccines and antibody drugs.

Dr. Ravi Gupta, a virus expert at the University of Cambridge, England, said model studies indicate that it could be up to twice as infectious as the strain that has so far been the most common in England. He and other researchers have published a report on it on a site that scientists use to share progress, but it has not been officially reviewed or published in a journal.

Does the strain make people sicker or more likely to die?

“There is no indication that any of these are true, but clearly these are issues that we need to look at,” Landrigan said. As more patients become infected with the new strain, “they will know relatively soon if the new strain makes people sick.”

Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemic expert at the WHO, said on Monday that “the information we have so far is that there are no changes” in the type of disease or its severity due to the new strain.

What do mutations mean for treatments?

Several cases in England raise concerns that mutations in new strains may decrease the potency of drugs that provide antibodies to prevent virus infection of cells.

“Antibody response studies are currently being performed. We look forward to the results for the next few days and weeks, “said Van Kerkhove.

A pharmacist, Eli Lilly, said tests in her lab using strains that contain the most worrying mutation indicate that the drug is still fully active.

And what about vaccines?

Slaoui said the assumption is that current vaccines will continue to be effective against the variant, but that scientists are working to confirm this.

“My expectation is that this will not be a problem,” he said.

British officials said “I don’t think there is an impact on vaccines,” Van Kerkhove said.

Vaccines induce broad immune responses in addition to causing the immune system to develop antibodies against the virus, so it is expected to continue to function, several scientists said.

Will travel restrictions help?

Landrigan believes that.

“If the new strain is really more contagious than the original strain, then it is very sensitive to restrict movement,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. As long as you can break the transmission chain, you can slow down the virus. “

Fauci said he did not criticize other countries for suspending travel to England, but would not advise the United States to take such measures, according to CNN.

The presence or extent of the new strain in the United States is currently unknown.

What can I do to reduce my risk?

Follow the advice to wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, keep your social distance and avoid large groups, say public health experts.

“Bottom line, we need to suppress the transmission” of all virus strains that cause COVID-19, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“The more we allow it to spread, the more mutations there will be.”