Gravediggers bury a Covid-19 victim while they are surrounded by relatives at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus on January 13th.
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
Researchers in Brazil warn that a new strain of coronavirus observed a few days ago could aggravate an outbreak in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon rainforest.
Experts are willing to deduct the increase in cases that have left hospitals in Manaus no beds available and oxygen is bound to the new strain, but they have not yet been able to confirm the suspicion. While the variant appears to be more transmissible, half a dozen researchers say there are still not enough studies to say it is responsible for the faster spread and that there is no evidence that it causes a more severe form of Covid-19.
“We suspect it is more transmissible, based on data we have from strains in the UK and South Africa,” said Felipe Naveca, a researcher at Fiocruz Amazonia, which helped sequence the virus’s genome. “But the Manaus variant has many more mutations than the others.”
On Friday, Fiocruz confirmed a case of reinfection with a new strain: a 29-year-old woman who had been diagnosed for the first time in March and received a second diagnosis of coronavirus on December 30.
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The new variant has not yet been found in other areas of Brazil, although researchers see it only a matter of time. It was first detected in Japan in four people who returned from Manaus last weekend.
Doubts about immunity
Brazilian scientists have also found strains in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Fernando Spilki, a virology professor who worked on a virus genome sequencing initiative, says there were “three or four” new variants detected in Brazil. The concern is that different lines have similar mutations – some of which can lead to the avoidance of antibodies that humans may already have against another strain.
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“It’s as if they all evolve at the same time and in the same way, even if they are not directly related to each other,” he said. “This may mean that we have a large number of cases even in populations that already have immunity.”
Relatives attend a funeral at Nossa Senhora Aparecida Cemetery on January 13
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
Also, there is no information yet about whether existing vaccines will work against the new strain. Brazil, which did not start vaccination, bet on two shots: CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech Ltd and a booster from AstraZeneca / Oxford. The Anvisa health regulator has a meeting on Sunday to decide on emergency use requests for both.
“The sooner you get vaccinated, the less the virus moves,” said Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, an expert in the molecular biology of the virus, who helped sequence the virus’s genome. “It reduces the chances of having a virus that looks very worrying, which makes the disease more severe.”
Vaccine Debacle
If approved by Anvisa, it would take three to five days to implement the vaccines in the states – the government has said it intends to begin immunizing Brazil’s 210 million people next week. The South American nation has the second largest number of deaths and the third largest share of coronavirus infections globally.
For now, the only photo available in the country is CoronaVac. President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that the government The plan to import 2 million doses of Astra booster from India to speed up vaccinations has been postponed for several days, the newspaper Valor Economico reported, citing a TV interview.
No oxygen
Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, is collapsing under the pressure of the second wave of the virus. Cases and deaths rose to levels last seen in May. The state has begun transporting patients to other states, amid reports of patients dying of asphyxia.
The health ministry said on Friday it was hiring 2,500 health professionals to help Manaus and that it had enough oxygen to support 61 premature babies in the city’s ICU beds for the next 48 hours.
State Governor Wilson Lima said oxygen demand far exceeded what was seen in 2020, rising to 75,000 cubic meters from 15,000 in just 10 days and making the preparations unnecessary. Amazon still needs to transfer at least 400 patients to other states to control the shortage, he said. Boats and trucks are expected to arrive with oxygen cylinders within the next 24 hours.
The rainy season in the Amazon rainforest, which begins in November, is increasing respiratory diseases, Naveca said. But experts blame something else: the abandonment of social distancing measures.
EMTs bring a patient to the 28 de Agosto Hospital in Manaus on January 14.
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
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“Social distancing and other individual protection measures were abandoned when officials weakened the rules, allowing activities to resume,” said Bernardino Albuquerque, an infectious disease expert and professor at the Federal University of Amazonas. “It simply came to our notice then. He was already out of control and we see that in January. ”
On Thursday, officials imposed a check at 7 a.m. and suspended public transportation on roads and rivers to prevent the disease from spreading. While Lima says the situation is still very serious, the local government has ruled out the blockades.
“There are restrictive measures to avoid social contact, but if the measures are too extreme, they can have the opposite effect,” he said.
– With the assistance of Martha Viotti Beck