According to scientists, another variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Variant B1525 is similar to B117, the highly contagious strain that was found in Britain in mid-December and has since been targeted in the United States, The Guardian reported.
The new variant has so far appeared in ten countries, including Denmark, the United States, Nigeria and Australia. Thirty-two cases have been reported in the UK. No cases of the new mutant in the US have been reported so far.
The first sequences dated from December, according to the report.
Scientists are working to learn more about B1525, including how it spreads and what effects vaccines can have on it.
“It simply came to our notice then [new] the variant will be extended, but if successful, it can be presumed that immunity to any previous vaccine or infection will be strong, ”Dr. Simon Clarke, an associate professor of cell microbiology at the University of Reading, told the Guardian.
But what is worrying is that the new variant contains several mutations, including the E484K mutation in the ear protein, which helps the virus enter cells.
Experts such as Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University, are calling for B1525 surge tests, saying he came across another mutation “that will probably help him escape our antibodies.”
The mutation is also present in variants from South Africa and Brazil, which have been shown to be more resistant to vaccines than other strains.
One study found that strain B117, in turn, can be up to 70% more deadly than previous versions of the virus.
News of B1525, the subject of a study by the University of Edinburgh, comes to light in a report that found at least seven new coronavirus variants swirling in the United States.