The highly contagious variant of COVID-19 that emerged in the UK appears to have evolved again to include a new “worrying” mutation, the researchers said.
About a dozen cases have been identified that include a mutation known as E484K, which has already been identified in variants in South Africa and Brazil, according to the BBC.
“The most worrying mutation, which we call E484K, has also occurred spontaneously in the new Kent strain in some parts of the country,” said Calum Semple, an outbreak medical expert advising the UK government, in the BBC radio.
The highly contagious mutation changes the shape of the virus’s ear protein, the part of the bug that causes it to become infected.
Experts now fear that E484K has allowed strains from South Africa and Brazil to outgrow the natural antibodies of those who have already recovered from having become infected in the first wave.
This also means that the mutation may mean the strain is more resistant to antibody or plasma drugs than coronavirus survivors, which help people fight the virus, experts said.
Dr Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, said the mutation in the UK variant “is a worrying, though not entirely unexpected, development,” the BBC reported.
He urged people to follow blocking orders in the UK to prevent the virus from continuing to mutate and spread.
“Otherwise, the virus can not only continue to spread, but can also evolve,” Tang said.
Mutated cases in the UK were first detected in the English county of Kent, south-east London.
Public Health England said it was seen in 11 of 214,159 samples they tested, the BBC reported.