British strain of covid-19 identified in Puerto Rico

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(CNN Spanish) ––

The designated secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Health, Carlos Mellado, confirmed this Friday the presence of the British strain of covid-19 on the island.

“The first patient we identified was in November.

The other two were in January.

So what is being done now is a contact tracing system to see who they were with, to see if those people were in the hospital.

In other words, we are going to analyze everything.

Also if they were vaccinated, ”Mellado reported.

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The detection of the British strain in Puerto Rico was established by scientists from INNO Diagnostics and Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU).

The strain identified by the scientists, as explained in a statement, contains the 69-70 gene mutation or deletion.

This is the one present in the variant that was detected in the United Kingdom, UK B.1.1.7.

“From mid-December 2020 we began to analyze the results of molecular diagnostic tests to determine if we had samples of interest.

In the laboratory we developed an assay that allows us to confirm whether or not we have the variant among the stored samples, ”explained Dr. Vanessa Rivera-Amill, Scientific Director of INNO Diagnostics.

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Rivera stressed that this variant, which is detected for the first time on the island, has implications for public health.

As he pointed out, the reviewed literature states that these variants can spread more easily between people.

However, he considered that the identification of this variant is an important step for the scientific community of the country.

Precisely because "it will help mitigate the impact of the spread on communities."

Dr. Kenira Thompson, president of Ponce Research Institute and vice president of research at Ponce Health Sciences University, reported that once the detection of the variant was confirmed, she immediately contacted the Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico.

“We knew that it was probable that in Puerto Rico there were already variants of the covid-19.

As scientists, our responsibility is to provide data that help, not only for the development of other scientific tests, but also in the prevention strategies that are carried out in the country, "said Thompson.

According to the Puerto Rico Department of Health, as of January 28 the island registered 86,302 confirmed cases of covid-19, and 1,812 deaths.

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