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The wave of infections in China raises fears of a new mutant version of COVID-19

2022-12-25T15:55:20.730Z


Experts warn that there is no reason why the new variants are less deadly, and emphasize on the cases in China: "We do not know everything that is happening."


By Laura Ungar and Aniruddha Ghosal —

The Associated Press

Could the new wave of COVID-19 infections in China unleash a devastating new mutation of the coronavirus around the world?

Scientists don't know for sure but are concerned that it could happen.

It could be similar to the omicron variants now circulating.

Or a combination of strains.

Or something totally different.

“China has a very large population and limited immunity.

And that seems to be the scenario where we could see an explosion of a new variant,” says Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.

Each new infection offers an opportunity for the virus to mutate, and it is now spreading rapidly in China.

This country of 1.4 billion people has largely abandoned its “zero cases” policy.

Although the overall reported vaccination rate is high, the level of booster doses is lower, especially among older people.

Chinese vaccines have been shown to be less effective against serious infections than Western mRNA ones.

And many of them were administered more than a year ago, which means that the immunity has diminished.

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The result is fertile ground for the virus to change.

“When we have seen large waves of infection, they are often followed by the generation of new variants,” explains Ray.

About three years ago, the original version of the coronavirus spread from China to the rest of the world;

then it was replaced by the delta variant, and then came omicron and its descendants, which continue to plague the world today.

Shan-Lu Liu, who studies viruses at Ohio State University, said many existing omicron variants have been detected in China, including BF.7, which is extremely adept at evading immunity and is believed to be driving the current wave.

Experts said that a partially immune population like China puts special pressure on the virus to change.

Ray likened the virus to a boxer who "learns to circumvent the abilities you have and adapts to get around them."

A big unknown is whether a new variant will cause more severe symptoms.

Experts say there is no biological reason for the virus to become less dangerous over time.

“Much of the mildness that we have experienced in the last six to 12 months in many parts of the world has been due to built-up immunity, either through vaccination or infection, not because the virus has lost” severity, Ray pointed out.

Commuters walk between two subway stations during the morning rush hour in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Andy Wong / AP

In China, most people have never been exposed to the coronavirus.

Chinese vaccines are based on older technology that produces fewer antibodies than mRNA vaccines.

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who studies viruses at India's Christian Medical College, said it remains to be seen whether the virus will follow the same pattern of evolution in China as in the rest of the world after vaccinations.

“Or will it be completely different?” she asked.

The World Health Organization expressed concern over reports of serious illness in China.

In the cities of Baoding and Langfang, on the outskirts of Beijing, hospitals have been left without intensive care beds and understaffed as severe cases surge.

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China's plan to track coronavirus cases centers on three urban hospitals in each province, where samples will be collected from very sick walk-in patients and all those who die each week, Xu Wenbo of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

It stated that 50 of the 130 omicron versions detected in China had led to outbreaks.

The country is creating a genetic database "to monitor in real time" the evolution of the different strains and their possible implications for public health.

At this time, however, information on viral genetic sequencing from China is limited, according to Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

“We don't know everything that's going on,” Luban said.

But it is clear that "the pandemic is not over."

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-12-25

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