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MATA INDONESIA, JAKARTA – As we know, there have been many new variants of the Corona virus that have spread, such as the British variant known as B.1.1.7 and South African origin (B.1.351). However, scientists are currently alarmed by a new variant of the virus that has just been detected, variant from Brazil (P1).
In fact, the emergence of a new variant of the Corona Virus is not unexpected. All viruses must develop. However, some of these virus developments are even more dangerous and contagious than the previous version. One of varian ywhich is worryingly rumored to be a variant of Brazil (P1) which appeared in December 2020 in Manaus, Brazil, and in mid-January has spread rapidly in many places.
January 2021, the first cases of the P1 variant were detected in the United States (US). The US health department then takes 50 random case samples from positive patients with the Corona Virus every week. It is known that the infected people had previously traveled to Brazil. “When asked, what is most worrying of all the things I’ve heard so far, is the fact that there are reports of a sudden increase in cases in Manaus,” said University of Massachusetts Virus Specialist Jeremy Luban.
He also said that before the Corona virus variant arrived in the United States, Manaus had infected 75 percent of people in Manaus. There are two questions that still worry scientists. Scientists do not understand why the new variant spreads so explosively in Brazil and carries a series of mutations that are so dangerous. While the new British variant of the Coronavirus took about 3 months to break out in the UK, P1 only took about a month to dominate the outbreak in Manaus.
There is one study that estimates that the virus should not be able to spread easily in an area. Then why did Manaus city experience such a high spike in spread? Scientists think it may be that P1 avoided the antibodies created to fight earlier versions of the virus and made transmission easier. The highest risk of developing variant P1, is in people who are elderly and have significant congenital conditions.
Infections from the new variant have been the center of attention until recently. Like the variant from South Africa, P1 also carries a group of viruses that mutate and bind to antibodies. “The main target of this new variant virus is the immune system,” said virologists from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Africa and KwaZuluNatal University.
The mutation from this new variant of the corona virus helps the virus avoid antibodies in the human body so scientists call it a kind of virus with invisibility cloaks. He even thought that there would not be a single solution that would emerge in 2021.
The vaccines currently available are designed for the previous version of the corona virus, but scientists believe the vaccine still works to fight the new variant of the virus, although it will not be as good as against the previous version of the virus.
Laboratory results show that the Pfizer vaccine can protect the body from the new variant, although it is still a little less effective. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine also shows it can protect against the British variant of the coronavirus, but is less effective against the South African variant. It is currently estimated that more new variants will appear in the future, so scientists around the world are wary of the current development of the Corona virus.
Reporter: Anggita Ayu Pratiwi
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