Researchers from the USA have discovered two more corona variants.
The mutations are said to be more contagious than the original Sars-CoV-2 virus.
The
Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus
mutates.
In addition to
Great Britain
and South Africa,
new
Corona *
mutations were also
discovered
in the
USA
.
However, one researcher warns of panic.
Kassel - In addition to the increasing number of new infections, concern about the
corona variant B.1.17
is currently
growing
.
This was first discovered in Great Britain and has several
mutations
.
As the British government announced, the new variant is up to 70 percent more contagious than the original pathogen.
A similarly contagious
mutation B.1.351 was also
discovered
in South Africa
.
Two new variants are
now appearing in the
USA
.
Researchers at Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State University made the discovery.
One of the variants carries a
corona mutation
that is identical to the British strain.
At least one person has been shown to have it.
+
Two new corona variants were discovered in the USA.
One of them has a mutation that is identical to the British strain.
(Symbol image)
© Eibner-Pressefoto / EXPA / Groder via www.imago-images.de
New corona mutation in the USA: variant spreads dominantly
The second development of the virus strain is said to have three
mutations
that were not previously seen in the original
pathogen Sars-CoV-2
.
The discovered
corona variant has been
spreading since the end of December 2020, especially in the 860,000-inhabitant city of Columbus (Ohio).
"This new
Columbus strain
has the same genetic backbone as previous cases that we examined, but these three mutations represent a significant development," explains study leader Dr.
Dan Jones, vice chairman of the division of molecular pathology, in a press release.
"We know this shift did not come from the UK or South African branches of the virus."
The
Covid-19 mutation B.1.1.7
from the UK could potentially be particularly contagious to children.
As with the British variant, the
corona mutations
in the Columbus strain
are also said to
make the virus more contagious than the original pathogen.
This could
allow
the
coronavirus
to be transmitted from one person to another more quickly.
Name of the Corona variant |
VOC-202012/01 (formerly B.1.1.7) |
|---|---|
Caused disease |
Covid-19 |
Discovered for the first time |
November 2020 in the UK |
"The big question is whether these mutations make vaccines and current therapeutic approaches less effective," said Peter Mohler, co-author of the study and chief scientist at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.
However, there is currently no evidence that the new
corona mutations
from the USA
have any
effect on the
effectiveness of the vaccines
.
This is also reported by merkur.de.
Corona variant in the USA: researchers warn of panic
According to the researchers, the
Columbus variant COH.20G / 501Y suggests
that the
corona mutation could
have
occurred
independently of one another in several parts of the world in the past few months.
"It is important that we do not overreact to this new variant until we receive additional data," warns Mohler.
First, further investigations must be awaited.
Viruses are constantly mutating naturally.
The novel
coronavirus
is no exception.
As deutschlandfunk.de reports,
Sars-CoV-2
develops
new mutations even more slowly compared to flu viruses.
However, "the changes in the last two months were more pronounced than in the first months of the pandemic," stressed Jones.
How many
Corona mutations
there are worldwide can currently hardly be estimated.
(Karolin Schaefer)
* hna.de and merkur.de are part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Eibner-Pressefoto / EXPA / Groder via www.imago-images.de
