The Californian strain of SARS-CoV-2 it has the experts on alert. Following concerns about the British, Brazilian and South African variants, in California (USA) A strain that emerged in May and became dominant is developing and expanding very rapidly.
This variant not only spreads more easily, but also is able to evade the antibodies generated by the vaccine or a previous covid-19 infection. In addition, it is the cause of serious illness or even death.
As recently published Los Angeles Times, it is a “variant of concern”. The media collected statements from the Dr. Charles Chiu, infectious disease researcher and physician at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF), who assures that “the devil is already here. I wish it were different, but science is science ”. USCF studies indicate that it is highly likely that by the end of next month it will already account for up to 90% of infections in the state.
California strain coronavirus Why is it such a dangerous variant?
In the same way that happens with the variant of UK, this Californian strain, the B.1.427/B.1.429, it is more contagious. “Compared to the strains that were most important here in the early fall, the new strain seems to have a greater ability to spread”Explains Chiu. The samples obtained indicate that it is 19% to 24% more transmissible will be the cause of 90% of infections in the state next month.
The results showed that, compared to people infected with other covid-19 strains, those who were infected by the Californian had twice higher viral loads in the nasopharynx, which further increases the probability that the infected person will infect other
What about the vaccine?
The analyzes carried out showed that the Californian variant was more resistant to antibodies generated in response to covid-19 vaccines already a previous infection. When neutralizing antibodies were challenged by the strain, its effectiveness was cut in half.
“I anticipate that over time it will have an effect on vaccination,” Chiu emphasizes. Scientists’ concern lies in the fact that some strains weaken the further they spread, but in this case, this weakness has not been found and may be highly virulent.
Regarding the death toll in California in recent months, Chiu made it clear that This does not mean that the strain is more lethal, but it may only be an indicator of its high degree of transmissibility, which produced a saturation of hospitals and health resources and, therefore, a high number of deaths.
Evidence on this California variant shows that symptoms are more severe and vaccines less effective: “An attempt should be made to reduce the contagion of this strain and this includes reinforcing hygienic measures, limiting public events and accelerating the vaccination campaign,” said the scientist.
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