Laboratory tests have found that the P.1 coronavirus variant that appeared in Brazil can infect some people who have gained immunity to previous COVID-19 infections.
New York Times reports that the revelation was made during research on the rapid outbreak of strain P.1 in the city of Manaus, Brazil, where it dominated due to the fact that it is more contagious.
Nuno Faria, a virologist at Imperial College London and a researcher who helped lead much of P.1. studies, told the Times that the recent findings applied to Manaus. He said he was not sure if they were relevant in other locations.
Faria and his colleagues noted that Manaus appears to have weathered the worst of the pandemic after peaking in April last year, only for cases to return by the end of 2020. Rising cases have led researchers to suspect a new variant. published.
After researching the genome of the variants and medical records, the researchers concluded that variant P.1 affected Manaus due to its mutations, estimating that it is between 1.4 and 2.2 times more infectious than other coronavirus strains.
The researchers confirmed their conclusion by mixing P.1 viruses with antibodies obtained from people who had coronavirus last year and found that the antibodies were six times less effective at stopping the P.1 coronavirus.
The authors warn that the study, which was not published in a medical journal, was performed only on cells in laboratories and not on humans.
According to Faria, the risk of P.1 outbreaks can be reduced by doubling existing methods of virus mitigation, including masks, social distancing and vaccinations.
“The final message is that you need to step up all vaccination efforts as soon as possible,” Faria said. “You have to be one step ahead of the virus.”
The Brazilian strain has already made its way to dozens of other countries, including the United States, which has reported P.1 cases in Alaska, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so far 10 cases of P.1 have been reported in the United States.