The variant of SARS-CoV-2 currently circulating in Europe and the United States would be 3 to 6 times more likely to infect human cells than the original strain discovered in China.
- Current Sars-CoV-2 variant infects body cells more easily
- Mutations are part of the normal functioning of coronaviruses
- The researchers conclude that the current variant of Sars-CoV-2 is probably more “infectious”, but not necessarily more “transmissible” between humans
The variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is currently circulating in Europe and the United States (named D614G) would be more dangerous than the strain that appeared in China. A study published in the scientific journal Cell indeed suggests that this variant of the virus would more easily infect the body’s cells.
“We don’t know yet if a person is doing worse with it or not.commented Anthony Fauci, director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases, in a filmed interview given to JAMA. It looks like the virus is replicating better and may be more transmissible, but we’re still at the stage of trying to confirm that. Very good virus geneticists are working on this.”
Mutations, “a mode of operation normal”
To better understand this phenomenon, remember that all viruses are endowed with genetic material (DNA or RNA), which can evolve when they replicate (we then speak of mutations) or during interactions with other viruses (we speaks of recombinations). Coronaviruses are RNA viruses, which have the particularity of mutating quickly and easily.
“Mutations are part of the normal mode of operation for this type of virusexplained last January to AFP Vincent Enouf, deputy head of the National Reference Center for Respiratory Viruses (Institut Pasteur), in Paris. Their survival depends on these mutations, which will allow them to adapt to their environment, to the different hosts they infect..”
Three to six times more infectious
Conducted by researchers from Sheffield and Duke Universities and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (USA), the study we are talking about today consisted of analyzing data from 999 hospitalized British Covid patients. The researchers observed that those who had been infected with the D614G variant had more viral particles in the body, without this however worsening their state of health.
Additional exams in vitro confirmed that the variant was three to six times more likely to infect human cells. “It seems likely to be a fitter virus”commented Erica Ollmann Saphire, one of the researchers.
Nathan Grubaugh of Yale University (UK) states that “this variant is now the pandemic”. However, “D614G should not change our restrictions or make individual infections worse.We are witnessing the scientific work in real time: it is an interesting discovery which potentially affects millions of people, but of which we still do not know its final influence. We discovered this virus six months ago, and we will learn a lot more in the next six months.”
For now, the researchers conclude that the current variant from SARS-CoV-2 is arguably more “infectious“, but not necessarily more “transferable” between humans.
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