Two studies will soon be published that raise concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus that scientists have been monitoring in California.
They hint that the variant may not only be more contagious, but may also cause more serious illnesses. The research is in its early stages, has not been published or peer-reviewed and needs more work, the researchers stressed.
A team at the University of California, San Francisco, tested samples of recent outbreak viruses in California and found it to be increasingly common. It was not seen in any samples from September, but in late January it was found in half of the samples.
This variant, which the team calls B.1.427 / B.1.429, has a different mutation pattern from the variants first seen in the UK, called B.1.1.7, and in South Africa, called B. 1,351. A mutation, called L452R, affects the ear protein of the virus, which is the part that binds to the cells that infect the virus.
“A specific mutation, the L452R mutation, in the spike protein receptor binding domain, may allow the virus to attach more effectively to cells. Our data show that this is probably the key mutation that it makes this variant more contagious, “Dr. Charles Chiu, associate director of the UCSF’s clinical microbiology laboratory, which led one of the studies, told CNN.
And they found some evidence that it is more dangerous.
“In this study, we observed an increase in the severity of the disease associated with B.1.427 / B.1.429 infection, including an increased risk of high oxygen requirement,” they wrote in their report, which will be published in a prepress server later this week after publication San Francisco health officials review it.
Chiu said a variant of concern should be designated and should be considered a priority for the study.
A second team from Unidos en Salud, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that offers rapid testing in the San Francisco mission district, tested 8,846 people during the month of January and sequenced the virus from 630 samples. They also found a rapid increase in the variant.
“The results of the research indicate that the L452R variant represents 53% of the positive test samples collected between January 10 and 27. This represents a significant increase from November, when our sequencing indicated that this variant it only accounted for 16% of the positive tests, ”said in a statement Dr. Diane Havlir, an infectious disease expert at the UCSF who helps lead the study.
Havlir’s team is also preparing their findings for publication.