All the major mutations in the virus we know

Viruses are constantly mutating, so it’s no surprise that the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has undergone multiple minor variations. But it has also undergone several major mutations and more significant variations are likely to appear.

More recently, strains have emerged in South Africa and the United Kingdom that have raised some concerns about the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines. A new strain is also suspected in the United States, with the White House coronavirus working group warning early in the new year that there could be a new, more transmissible variant of the virus that evolved in the United States and is propagating its spread, according to a document obtained by NBC News.

On Sunday, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it had detected a new variant of the coronavirus in four travelers arriving from Brazil.

Basically, scientists are concerned about any major change in the so-called ear protein of the virus. This contains the binding domain to the receptor and the virus uses it to access the body’s cells.

As such, mutations can not only make the virus more transmissible, but can mean that vaccines become less potent and require them to be updated.

Health officials in the UK reported a new variant to the World Health Organization on 14 December which is now formally known as “VOC 202012/01” (meaning “variant of concern, year 2020, month 12, variant 01 “).

The variant was first detected in a patient in Kent, south-east England, in September. It then spread rapidly to London. With infections in both regions, early analyzes suggested that it may be up to 70% more transmissible than the old variant circulating in the country.

The news of the new variant caused many countries to ban flights from the UK in an attempt to avoid the new tension, and led the country’s government to eliminate the planned relaxation of social restrictions during Christmas. However, the mutation caused a huge increase in infections, with a number of new daily cases exceeding 50,000 since 28 December.

The WHO notes that “how and where SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 originated is unclear,” although scientists are studying whether the mutation arose in patients with weaker immune systems who had infections. long-lasting coronavirus, thus giving the virus the opportunity and time to evolve in a way that allows it to spread more quickly.

South African authorities announced on December 18 the detection of a rapidly spreading mutation east of the headland, west of the headland and KwaZulu-Natal. It has now become the dominant strain of coronavirus in the country.

South Africa named the variant “501Y.V2” because of the N501Y mutation found in the ear protein. This mutation, among others, was also found in the new strain of the United Kingdom and, as such, is thought to be similarly more transmissible.

The South African strain contains other mutations, and these have caused some concern that it could be more resistant to coronavirus vaccines. However, most scientists expect vaccines to work despite the mutation, and vaccines are regularly adapted to new strains of viruses, such as the common flu.

Another variant of the coronavirus that emerged in Denmark last summer was related to the country’s large mink production sector. Since June, 214 human cases of Covid-19 have been identified in Denmark with variants associated with farm minks. Twelve of these cases were identified to have a unique variant that was reported to the WHO on 5 November.

The new strain was found in northern Jutland, Denmark, and was related to farm mink infections that had subsequently been transmitted to humans.

“The variant, known as the‘ Cluster 5 ’variant by the Danish authorities, had a combination of mutations that had not been observed previously,” the WHO noted. He added that these raised concerns that they could “cause a reduction in virus neutralization in humans, which could decrease the extent and duration of immune protection after a natural infection or vaccination.”

Studies are being conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment between humans with this variant. Fortunately, it does not appear to be more transmissible, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the WHO. Denmark took drastic measures, eliminating 17 million mink.

The WHO notes that a variant of the coronavirus appeared at the beginning of the pandemic (in fact, even before a global pandemic was declared in March 2020), and noted that in late January a new strain appeared with a mutation known as “D614G” or early February 2020.

After several months, it became the dominant strain of the virus we know today, the WHO said. “Over a period of several months, the D614G mutation replaced the initial SARS-CoV-2 strain identified in China and in June 2020 became the dominant form of the virus circulating worldwide.”

Studies in human respiratory cells and animal models showed that, compared to the initial strain of the virus, the younger strain had increased in infectivity and transmission. However, the new variant was not considered to cause “more serious diseases or alter the effectiveness of existing laboratory diagnoses, therapy, vaccines or preventive public health measures.”

Although variants are sometimes called “the UK strain” or “Danish mutation”, experts say it is important to keep in mind that the origin of these viruses is ultimately difficult to prove and that countries of different mutations should not be “blamed”.

Similarly, U.S. President Donald Trump has been criticized for calling Covid-19 “China’s virus”: the coronavirus may have originated in China, but we still don’t know its origins and a team of WHO experts travel to China this week to investigate. For now, scientists believe mostly that the virus was transmitted to humans from an animal species, possibly from bats.

Many countries where variants have been discovered (including the United Kingdom, Denmark, and South Africa) are known for their regular monitoring and sequencing of the virus’s genetic code and are therefore at the forefront of mutation discovery. Scientists around the world keep the WHO and other public bodies such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the EU ECDC up to date.