In samples collected in India, a new “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus was detected. Scientists check if the vaccine may be more infectious or less affected when two mutations occur together in the same virus. Like all viruses, the coronavirus continues to change in a small way as it passes from individual to individual. The overwhelming majority of these mutations do not affect how the virus performs. However, certain mutations trigger spike protein changes that the virus uses in human cells – these variants may be more infective, cause more severe diseases and avoid vaccines. Respiratory pathogens such as SARS-Cov2, the virus Covid-19 causing, protect us through stimulation of the body to produce anticorps. The “neutralizing antikörper,” because they prevent the virus from entering human cells, is the best guy to protect us.
Indian genome researchers have detected a new coronavirus’ so-called “double variant.” The government said an analysis of the Maharashtra state samples showed that the proportion of samples with mutations E484Q and L452R was “growing,” compared with the previous December. The Health Ministry reported in a statement: “These [double] mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity.
Dr. Jeremy Kamil, Virologist of Shreveport State University of Health, says the E484Q is similar to the E484K, which has been reproduced several times independently of the B.1.351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil) variants. If a viral family tree or lineage is sufficiently mutated, the virus can start functioning differently and the lineage becomes a “related concern.” Dr. Kamil told me about the L452R mutation – which is also found in India’s double-mutation – which was first noted as part of the US lineage B.1.427/B.1.429, sometimes referred to as the “California version.”
Dr. Kamil, the co-author of a recent study of seven growing lines of the new coronavirus in the USA, says nothing. “Many mutations at once — even if we are limited to the spike gene — are now extremely common.” Most spike genes had only one mutation earlier in the pandemic: D614G. Now, according to Kamil, this mutation is dominant and everywhere, “so we see others above it.” GISAID, an open database sharing, lists 43 viruses with mutations E484Q as well as L452R in India. Dr. Kamil says there were nine spike mutations in a virus collected in the UK in March. “These are many mutations. These are many mutations. Do we know there are only two spike mutations in the Indian variant? “He asks.
Spike gene mutations can intrinsically make the virus better for people or help the virus escape neutralizing antibodies.
This means that if the virus mutates “right,” someone who has recovered from Covid-19 can be reinfected. But scientific scientists say reinfections in individuals vaccinated or already recovering from the previous case of Covid-19 are very mild composed of primary infections. However, if the virus can spread by reinfection, it would also ‘penetrate’ herd immunity, Dr. Kamil says. (Herd immunity occurs when the vaccination or mass spread of the disease puts a large part of the community immune to a disease.) This puts the most vulnerable people at risk because they may be reached by the virus via the herd.
In contrast to some other variants, the new dual variant in India is probably not more lethal or more transmissible inherently, but further data are necessary to ensure. On Wednesday, India reported 47.262 cases and 275 deaths – the sharpest daily increase this year.
Dr. Rakesh Mishra, director of the Center for Cell and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, said that 20 percent of the cases in Maharashtra were found to be “double varying,” which saw an enormous increase in reported infections. “The reason for the second wave of infection in India was a suspicion. I would say no, that this combination of mutants does not exist for 80 percent of samples we have sequenced. In Maharashtra only 230 cases of several thousand sequenced samples were linked to this mutant, “He said.
The UK variant (also known as B.1.1.7), which currently dominates mostly in England and extended to over 50 countries, is much more worrying. Of the 10,787 samples sequenced in India, a total of 736 were found to be positive. Dr. Kamil says that this variant is more likely to contribute to an “intense second wave.” (Studies have shown that it is more than 50 percent more communicable and 60 percent more deadly – 1.6 deaths per virus deaths each). “But mainly human conduct will drive the second wave,” Dr. Kamil says. “It will be mostly human.
