TRIBUNNEWSMAKER.COM – Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed a variant Covid-19 recently has spread rapidly in dozens of countries, the variant is even said to make vaccine and antibody protection less effective.
Launching The Straits Times citing AFP, in the latest epidemiological update, the UN health agency said a variant Covid-19 a more contagious one that was first seen at English on January 25 it has spread to 70 countries in all regions of the world.
According to WHO, a new variant known as VOC 202012/01 or B.1.1.7 and has proven to be more contagious than previous variants of the virus, thus spreading to 10 more countries over the last week.
Prime Minister English Boris Johnson also warned last week that new studies have indicated the strains could be even more deadly. However WHO stressed on Wednesday that the results are still preliminary, and more analysis is needed to further reinforce the findings.
All viruses mutate when they replicate to adapt to their environment, and scientists have tracked several mutations for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
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Most of the mutations don’t really matter, however WHO have urged countries to actively work to find mutations that might significantly alter the virulence or transmission of the virus.
Then, there is also the case of variant 501.V2 which was first discovered in South Africa in October.
The WHO said on Wednesday that the variant has now spread to 31 countries, eight more than a week ago.
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Still citing The Straits Times, like a variant EnglishThe African variant also has a mutation in its spike protein – the part of the virus that attaches itself to human cells and helps it spread – making it potentially more infectious than other strains.
“But research also shows that this variant is less susceptible to antibody neutralization,” said WHO.
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