(ANSA) - ROME, 10 FEB - Sars-CoV-2 mutations (just like those that are spreading around the world, with English, Brazilian and South African variants) could arise in cases of chronic infection, where treatment for a prolonged period can provide the virus with many opportunities to evolve.
To say this are the scholars of the University of Cambridge in an article published in Nature.
The researchers say they were able to observe the Sars-Cov-2 mutation in the case of an immunocompromised patient who had been treated with plasma therapy.
In particular, they have seen the emergence of a key mutation seen in the new English variant, although they are unable to tell whether this same variant originated from this same patient.
Using a synthetic version of the virus's Spike protein created in the laboratory, the team showed that specific modifications to its genetic code (with the mutation observed in the British variant) made the virus twice as infectious as the more common strain.
The man on whom the virus mutated was a 70-year-old who had previously been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma and who had recently had chemotherapy treatment.
Thus, he had a severely compromised immune system.
After admission, the patient was given numerous treatments, including the antiviral drug remdesivir and plasma therapy, with antibodies taken from the blood of a patient who had successfully cleared the virus from their body.
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