According to a study, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has been detected in South Africa and many other countries worldwide, which could be more transmissible and evade the protection provided by vaccines.
Scientists from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in South Africa said the potential variant of interest, C.1.2, is detected for the first time in the country in May this year.
Since then, C.1.2 has been found in China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, England, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland as of 13 August.
According to the still-pending expert-reviewed study published in the MedRxiv prepress repository on August 24, C.1.2 has mutated substantially compared to C.1, one of the lineages that dominated SARS-CoV-2 infections in the first wave in South Africa.
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The new variant has more mutations than other variants of concern (VOC) or variants of interest (VOI) detected worldwide so far, the researchers said.
They noted that the number of available C.1.2 sequences may be an underrepresentation of the spread and frequency of the variant in South Africa and around the world.
The study found steady increases in the number of C.1.2 genomes in South Africa each month, from 0.2% of genomes sequenced in May to 1.6% in June and then to 2% in July.
“This is similar to the increases observed with Beta and Delta variants in the country during early detection,” the study authors said.
According to the study, the C.1.2 lineage has a mutation rate of about 41.8 mutations per year, which is approximately twice as fast as the current overall mutation rate of the other variants.
More than half of the C.1.2 sequences have 14 mutations, but additional variations have been noted in some of the sequences.
“Although these mutations occur in most C.1.2 viruses, there are additional variations within the peak region of this lineage, suggesting ongoing intra-lineage evolution,” the authors of the study noted. ‘study.
Approximately 52% of mutations in the flea region of sequences C.1.2 have been previously seen in other VOCs and VOIs.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses the ear protein to infect and enter human cells, and most vaccines target that region.
N440K and Y449H mutations, which have been associated with immune leakage of certain antibodies, have also been noted in sequences C.1.2.
“Although these mutations are not characteristic of current VOCs / VOIs, they have been associated with the escape of certain class 3 neutralizing antibodies,” the authors wrote.
They noted that these mutations along with changes in other parts of the virus are likely to help the virus bypass antibodies and the immune response, including patients who have already developed antibodies to the Alpha or Beta variants.
“While the phenotypic characteristics and epidemiology of C.1.2 are being defined, it is important to highlight this lineage given its constellation of mutations,” the authors added.