South Africa, the country in Africa hardest hit by the coronavirus, is immersed in a second wave marked by a new, more transmissible variant found there, the so-called 501.V2, and this Wednesday broke its death toll. daily and new cases, with 844 deaths and 21,832 new infections.
Although South Africa had kept infections under control since August, in recent months the numbers of new daily infections have been growing rapidly, especially in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces, until to surpass one million positives last December 27th.
This is what is known about the new variant:
IS THE NEW VARIANT MOST DANGEROUS?
“At the moment, there is no evidence that the new variant is associated with greater severity or worse results,” the South African government said in a statement on the 19th.
What some research does point out is that it has a higher viral load that makes it more transmissible, so it would be easier to get the virus if you are exposed to it.
“We are very convinced that this is probably a more transmissible variant, with similar or equal symptoms, and we do not believe that it causes a more severe disease,” said in a statement to local media Professor Tulio d’Oliveira, director of the platform scientist from the University of KwaZulu-Natal who coordinates the genetic analysis of viruses at the national level.
However, “having many more infected people could increase the pressure on our healthcare system to the limit, which could result in the death of more people. The problem is the number of people,” he warned. Olive tree.
WILL THE VACCINE HAVE AN EFFECT ON IT?
According to the information available to scientists so far, nothing seems to indicate that this new variant is resistant to vaccines developed to combat SARS-CoV-2.
“We have no indication that there is an impact on the vaccines that are being administered. This is the information we have so far and investigations are still ongoing,” said on Wednesday the technical manager against the covid-19 of the Organization World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Van Kerkhove at the weekly meeting of experts of this United Nations agency with Internet users.
WHO Director of Health Emergencies Mike Ryan noted that new variations in the UK and South Africa “do not mean that the coronavirus behaves differently” and explained that it is common that when a virus mute, do it to a more contagious variant, not more deadly.
However, Oxford University immunologist John Bell, who was involved in the creation of the vaccine developed by this institution and AstraZeneca, has stated in statements to a British media that there was “a big question mark” on the effectiveness of these preparations in the face of the new South African variant.
HOW DID YOU DISCOVER THIS VARIANT?
The new variant came to light after a sharp rise in cases in the Eastern Cape province caught the attention of the national network of laboratories studying virus genetics.
After taking nearly 200 samples from coronavirus patients at more than 50 health centers in the province, South African scientists found a “very unusual” result, in Oliveira’s words.
Instead of finding between ten and twenty different variants in small percentages – the usual until then – they found a single dominant variant in 90% of infections.
However, it is important to note that this is a variant and not a strain, warned Professor Ian Sanne, a member of the Committee dealing with covid-19 in South Africa, as otherwise the ” concern would be much greater “as it would amount to” starting from scratch. “
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE FROM OTHERS?
501.V2 differs from other previously localized variants in that several of its mutations are located in so-called beak proteins, the part of the virus that binds to the receptors of cells when it enters a cell. human organism.
These proteins are also the main target of antibodies that are created through vaccines.
This is the second known variant that has expanded widely in the world with mutations in this area, after the discovery in the UK and which, according to Oliveira, has “a different origin”.
Even before this new variant, South Africa was the nation most punished by the coronavirus on the African continent and, as of January 6, has almost 1,150,000 cases and 31,368 deaths, although if we take into account the excess mortality this last figure could be much higher.
Across Africa, more than 2.9 million infections have been reported, nearly 70,000 dead and about 2.3 million cured, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa (CDC). Africa).