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The Finnish strain of coronavirus seems to be the most recent variant discovered in recent months worldwide, although almost all are somewhat similar to the British, South African, Brazilian or Japanese variants.
A new strain of coronavirus, called Fin-796H, has been identified in southern Finland, a joint study by Vita Laboratories and the University of Helsinki’s Institute of Biotechnology revealed on Wednesday.
According to the Finnish laboratory, not all PCR tests approved by the World Health Organization can detect the new strain.
“Vita Laboratoriot Oy and the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki have detected a previously unknown variant of coronavirus in a sample from southern Finland. Mutations in this variant make it difficult to detect in at least one of the WHO-recommended PCR tests. it could have a significant impact on determining the spread of the disease, “the lab said in a statement.
Although the new strain of the new coronavirus contains mutations that can also be traced to British and South African strains, it is quite different from all those previously found.
“His legacy has the same features as previously widespread variants in the world, but does not appear to belong to the descendants of any previously known variant,” the statement said.
Sakari Jokiranta, associate professor of clinical microbiology at Vita Laboratories, said in a statement that a certain mutation in the strain prevented it from being detected by one of the methods approved by the WHO.
This was seen when analyzing a sample from a patient with the COVID-19 infection variant, he added.
However, researchers do not yet have information on where this mutation developed, but this is unlikely to have happened in the country, as the total number of COVID-19 cases in Finland is significantly lower than in Finland. Other states.
The resistance of the new strain to the vaccines currently in use remains unclear.
According to statistics from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the number of new coronavirus cases rose by 548 on Wednesday, to a total of 51,595 out of 5.5 million citizens. The death toll for the northern European nation is 723.
Almost 240,000 Finns have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, which represents about 4% of the population.