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How is the Israeli corona strain formed and how much should it worry us? - Walla! health

2021-03-30T13:10:31.328Z


In recent days, there is a feeling that the corona plague is over, but the new variant found in Israel reminds us that there is still a long and unexpected way ahead. Expert warns: The story of the variants is far from over


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How is the Israeli corona strain formed and how much should it worry us?

In recent days, there is a feeling that the corona plague is over, but the new variant found in Israel reminds us that there is still a long and unexpected way ahead.

Expert warns: The story of the variants is far from over

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  • Corona

  • Corona virus

  • mutation

Walla!

health

Tuesday, 30 March 2021, 15:17 Updated: 16:05

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In recent days, there has been a feeling in Israel that the corona plague has disappeared, but just at the height of the denial, a blue-and-white version of the virus has been identified.

The Ministry of Health announced today (Tuesday) that it has located a "corona mutation" that has developed in Israel.

The name of the new strain is P681H and it has caused 181 infections in recent months.

Currently, this version of the virus is no more dangerous or contagious compared to other strains, and "there is no fear of compromising the effectiveness of the vaccine," according to the Ministry of Health.



We spoke with Prof. Tomer Hertz, a virologist from the Faculty of Health Sciences and a member of the National Institute of Biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, to understand what it means that an Israeli strain of corona virus has been created, and whether it should concern us.

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"First it is important to clarify that this is not a mutation, but a strain or variant," explained Prof Hertz. "A mutation is a change of one component within the sequence of the virus, and each variant has many such substitutions. The British variant for example has 17 mutations. It's not true, because the virus needs a series of mutations to reach new abilities, to become a variant of the kind we are talking about. "

"There are many variants, few of which are worrying"

The publications on the Israeli corona strain may be a cause for concern, but as we have written many times before, mutations in viruses are common and natural.

Viruses replicate all the time, and in the process of replication, random errors sometimes occur.

Most replication errors disappear immediately, as the virus produces some new strain that simply cannot exist and disappears.

But sometimes, by chance, the virus creates a strain that can exist, and if this strain has some advantage - as in the case of the British or South African corona strain - then it spreads more, for the simple reason that it is more competent.

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There are currently a lot of new varieties of corona, but "the question is which variants interest us," explains Prof. Hertz, "in English it is divided into variants that 'interest us', and variants that 'concern us'. The list of concern is a relatively short list. "Now, that includes the British, the South African, the Brazilian, a variety from California and another variety from New York, but there are many other variants that follow them, and we do not know where they will develop in the future."

The variants may become vaccine-resistant in the future.

Corona vaccination (Photo: Reuters)

So what do we know about the Israeli variety?

Not much right now, and he's definitely on the "interesting" list, not the "worrying", but his marking says it's a variant that probably has mutations some of which are familiar, and that means he may have traits that will make him spread effectively in the future, even In the vaccinated, "says Prof. Hertz.

How was the Israeli variety created?

We do not currently have extensive information on the Israeli strain, but all that is currently known indicates that all variants of the corona virus were created in patients with a weakened immune system.

"In people who receive immunosuppressive therapy, when they are infected with a virus they can be sick for a long time. A normal person infected with corona recovers after 7-14 days, but immunocompromised people can be sick for months, then the virus has time inside the body. Which stores it, and during this time it accumulates changes, "explains Prof. Hertz," it is not something that happens with a normal infection of a few days, so we think these variants come from all sorts of people who have been infected and have a weakened immune system. "

"The story of the variants is far from over"

Although the epidemic seems quiet at the moment in Israel, it is not like that in the world, so in many places new strains are being created, some of which are developing abilities that, among other things, will help them evade immune responses, as well as those evoked by the vaccine.

"Brazil now has a terrible epidemic of Brazilian strain that can infect people who have been infected with corona in the past. Europe also has a raging epidemic due to the British and South African variants - the former is more contagious and deadly, and the latter can also infect people vaccinated against corona," says Prof Hertz.

When they open the sky - more variants will come here.

Corona test at Ben Gurion Airport (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Although the Israeli variety is making headlines, according to Prof. Hertz, "the real fear is that they will open up the sky and people will bring with them more new variants, some of which may be more contagious or know how to infect vaccines," he added.

"We know about the existence of these variants, and we know that when they open the sky they will come here," he added.



"It is very difficult to predict what the next step of the epidemic will be, but until the world reaches a high rate of immunization - it is a cloud of uncertainty that it is impossible to know where it will go," Hertz concluded, "most likely the corona becomes a seasonal disease "Once every two years, but how deadly it will be, and how contagious it will be, and how much it will disrupt our lives - it is impossible to know, it is a mystery that we do not know how to answer clearly. Just like that."

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Source: walla

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