The English variant is in the process of acquiring the most concerning mutation of the South African variant. And a new study finds its symptoms differ from those caused by the original strain with more coughing and sneezing, and less loss of taste and smell.
- This new mutation which modifies the RNA of the virus would decrease the effectiveness of the antibodies.
- This new situation does not mean that vaccines will be less effective.
- Symptoms specific to the British variant would explain why it is more contagious than the initial strain.
It is the variant of the variant. While the English variant is gaining more and more ground in France, representing up to 20% of cases in Île-de-France, British researchers have discovered cases that are in the process of acquiring the most worrying mutation of the South African variant. Concretely, the researchers discovered the E484K mutation, also present in the Brazilian variant, on 11 genomes of the English variant B.1.1.7, as reported by the English public health agency in a report published on Monday 1er february.
A mutation that escapes the immune system more easily
This new mutation which modifies the RNA of the virus would decrease the effectiveness of the antibodies. It would have appeared simultaneously in England and Wales and was detected thanks to the sequencing of the virus. Of all the mutations observed so far, E484K is “most disturbing of all”, estimated Ravi Gupta, professor of microbiology at the University of Cambridge, to AFP in mid-January. It would make the virus even more vicious since it is capable of reducing the ability of antibodies to recognize it and therefore neutralize it. Potentially, this could mean that people who have been infected with this variant with this mutation are less well immunized than those who have been infected with the classic strain.
On Twitter, Ravi Gupta confirmed that this mutation is problematic. With his team of researchers, they created a non-infectious coronavirus in the laboratory with this mutation and found that “E484K dramatically increases the amount of antibodies needed to prevent cell infection”. This new situation does not mean that vaccines will be less effective. Pfizer recently confirmed that its vaccine is effective against the English variant and estimated that it is also effective against the South African, which may mean that it is also effective against the new mutation of the British variant.
The E484K has indeed arrived on the background of B.1.1.7 and detected thanks to @CovidGenomicsUK. This figure shows number of sequences deposited over time. There may be independent acquisitions which is of concern but not surprising given B.1.351 and P1 both have it. pic.twitter.com/ewjcrIckYT
— Gupta Lab, Cambridge (@GuptaR_lab) February 2, 2021
The mutation, more contagious than the variant?
The question of an over-contagiousness of this new mutation also arises. January 6th, a study prepublished in the journal bioRxiv, reported that the English variant is 2.5 times more contagious than the traditional strain of SARS-CoV-2. By adding the E484K mutation, the virus could be up to 13 times more apt to cling to our cells. “Viruses are complex, better cell attachment does not necessarily mean a better virus”, tempers Björn Meyer, virologist at the Pasteur Institute, interviewed by the HuffPost. Clinging to cells does not necessarily mean penetrating them and therefore infecting them, and it is known that a virus that clings too well to its receptor has more difficulty in infecting it.
A new study, published on January 29 in the British Medical Journal, reveals that the English variant causes different symptoms than those related to the initial strain. Conducted on 6,000 participants, this study suggests that the cough is more present and concerns 35% of patients against 28% in patients with the first strain. “We find with the English variant a little less of these characteristic signs that are the loss of taste or smell. There are, but it is less commonadds Rémi Salomon, president of the Medical Commission for the establishment of Paris hospitals, at the microphone ofEuropean 1. On the other hand, we find more coughing, perhaps also sneezing, as well as sore throats.“These symptoms that generate large droplet projections could explain why this variant is more contagious,”at least that’s a guess”, says Rémi Salomon. New studies will be conducted in France to deepen these results.
