The “most mutated” Covid strain in the world, with 34 mutations, is found as fears grow super-variants that can prolong the pandemic

Scientists have detected what is believed to be the world’s most mutated Covid strain, as fears grow new higher variants that could prolong the pandemic.

The team of experts revealed their conclusions in a pre-printed research paper that reports that the coronavirus variant has 34 mutations.

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And among these changes are 14 in the spike protein – the part of the virus that it uses to penetrate human cells and make people sick.

The Brazilian variant has 18 mutations in total, with 10 mutations at the top, while the British strain has 17 mutations, including eight in the key protein.

The new apparent variant also contains the worrying E484K modification – called the “escape mutation” – which helps the virus beat the antibodies and comes in other worrying strains.

The variant of interest (VOI) was discovered on three air passengers arriving in Angola from Tanzania in mid-February – both countries being on the UK red list in January.

Scientists from the Angolan Ministry of Health, Africa CDC, the Universities of Oxford and Cape Town and the multi-institution research body KRISP have warned that the option needs “urgent study”.

They also warned of the danger, as Tanzania has a “largely undocumented epidemic” with “few public health measures” – the official number of cases being just 509 infections with 21 deaths.

The Tanzanian government has pledged to deny Covid, and President John Magufuli has asked for prayers and steam with herbal infusion to beat the virus until his sudden death in March.

It is feared that the furious spread of the virus as cases grow will fuel these mutations – which could allow the bug to become more deadly, more transmissible and more adept at avoiding antibodies.

Dr. William A. Haseltine, a former professor at Havard, told The Sun Online that the new variant is of “considerable concern” because of the large number of mutations, the type of mutations, and the fact that it appears to be from a different “offspring” of the virus. . .

Most of the notable variants can be traced back to strain B1 – but these new variants appear to have evolved from another source.

He also expressed concern about the “information vacuum” coming out of Tanzania, which prevents monitoring of potentially dangerous new mutations.

“These mutations could increase the concentration of the virus in infected people, which can help prolong the infection and increase transmissibility,” Dr. Haseltine told The Sun Online.

He added: “The Tanzanian variant demonstrates the enormous versatility of this virus.

“Initially, many expected this virus to be relatively stable, but it shows us with this variant and others, that this is not really the case.”

In the paper, the team warned that the “mutation constellation” could mean that the variant is more resistant to antibodies and vaccines and could also be more infectious.

There is a vacuum of information coming from Tanzania, which must be addressed promptly for Tanzanians and for the health of the world.

Dr. William A. Haseltine

The new VOI was temporarily named A.VOI.V2, while Dr. Haseltine called it the “Tanzania variant.”

And the Human Vaccines project said the virus has “more mutations” than any previous strain.

It is growing fears that Covid’s rampant outbreaks around the world – such as Brazil and India – could derail efforts to defeat the pandemic.

Brazil has been described as a “biological Fukushima” due to its uncontrolled spread, while India reaches record levels of infection with over 200,000 new cases every day.

Both have spawned new variants, such as P1 in Brazil and the “double mutant” Covid in India.

The heads of the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned of the global outbreak that “it is not over at all”, as super variants continue to grow.

The daily number of cases worldwide now reaches the highs observed since the peak of the pandemic last year, with over 800,000 daily infections.

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New mutations in the coronavirus may make it more difficult to recognize the body’s immune system, which has been prepared to look for the “original” strain, either by vaccination or by a previous infection.

Antibodies – proteins produced by the immune system to fight the virus – may be weaker against new strains.

The threat of new coronavirus strains also means masks and social distancing may be needed by 2022, despite the vaccine launch, and it is unclear when border controls will be relaxed.

And it is feared that a new variant will take over, additional blockages may be needed to fix and stop the spread.

Studies have shown that current vaccines still work against new variants, but may be less effective.

Scientists are already working on modified vaccines to help manage new mutations in the future, just like the flu vaccine that changes every year.

Dr. Haseltine told The Sun Online that it was “absolutely critical” that Covid’s rampant spread to countries such as Brazil and India were dominated to defeat the pandemic.

He also warned that areas with holes in Covid’s global monitoring, such as in Tanzania, could cause more surprise mutations.

He said: “The more the virus spreads, the more variants there are and the greater the chances that the virus will increase in transmissibility, evade our immune response and increase in virulence.

“In addition to outbreaks in Brazil and India, we would add outbreaks in Eastern Europe, South America, North America, including here in the United States.

“There is a vacuum of information coming from Tanzania that needs to be addressed promptly for Tanzanians and for the health of the world.”

The lead expert warned that virus mutations pose a “serious threat” to our current arsenal of vaccines – and there may already be options to avoid first-generation schemes.

“We believe, due to the lack of systematic surveillance, that there are, for the time being, unobserved variants with improved properties for increasing transmission, disease and immune evasion,” he said.

However, he added that it is “critical” that as many people as possible be vaccinated as soon as possible.

Addressing the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh last week, WHO Special Envoy Dr. David Nabarro said the new variants would be a “regular” event, while the virus is still spreading around the world.

He warned: “The pandemic is far from over. We have seen four and a half million cases reported every week and we know that these are a huge underestimation.

“And we still see a really significant number of deaths – almost three million.

“What I want to emphasize is that the pandemic is growing everywhere.”

Dr. Tony Lockett, of King’s College London, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, previously told The Sun Online about the prospect of a devastating new mutation coming out of its worldwide spread.

He said: “The effect – it could be devastating – much worse than the original, because young people could become sicker and those who had the virus are re-infected with the new strain.

“It’s really scary.”

He was warned that coronavirus mutations could make vaccines redundant in less than a year, according to a survey by epidemiologists of The People’s Vaccine Alliance.