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A woman walks past a closed pub in London
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The virologist Christian Drosten made a statement in a tweet about the new variant of the corona virus, which could be significantly more contagious than previous lines.
"Unfortunately that doesn't look good," wrote Drosten, referring to a group of experts from the British government (NERVTAG).
This had published further data on a new line of the corona virus on Monday evening.
"A novel variant was identified that spread quickly in Great Britain," writes the expert group in its summary.
Accordingly, the new line has "significantly increased transferability with a high degree of security".
According to the experts, further characterization studies are still ongoing.
According to the new evaluations, the new variant could increase the R value, i.e. the number of other infected people, by just under 0.6.
That may sound like little, but with a weekly average of around 25,000 new infections per day, as is currently the case in Germany, it would mean 15,000 more or less infected people per contagion cascade.
Nevertheless, Drosten wrote that it was "positive" that cases with the mutant only increased in areas where the overall incidence was high or rising.
"Contact reduction also works against the spread of the mutant."
An increase in the R value by 0.4 to 0.9 was discussed on Monday.
Great Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the weekend that the mutation was "up to 70 percent more contagious" than the original variant of the corona virus.
However, the information was based on an expert statement, according to which the new virus could increase the risk of infection by significantly more or significantly less than 70 percent.
Two mutations in particular are of concern
The experts are particularly concerned about a mutation called »N501Y« in the so-called spike protein with which the virus binds to human cells.
The mutation increases the virus' urge to do so.
It is possible that this mutation alone or in combination with another genetic modification called »69-70del« increases the transferability of the virus.
With the mutation »69-70del«, information for the construction of two amino acids in the genetic material is deleted.
It is also suspected of making immunodeficient patients particularly difficult.
However, it is not yet known that those infected with the new coronavirus line have a more severe course.
The position of the mutations »N501Y« is of greater concern to the experts.
They can influence how effectively antibodies neutralize the virus, write the experts.
Various studies have shown that monoclonal antibodies are less able to cope with viruses that are mutated at position 501.
However, this has never been tested with »N501Y«.
Biontech still considers vaccine to be effective
The German vaccine company Biontech said on Tuesday that it assumed that its vaccine would also be effective against the new form of the virus.
“We have already tested the vaccine against around 20 other virus variants with other mutations.
The immune response triggered by our vaccine has always inactivated all forms of the virus, ”says Biontech boss Uğur Şahin.
The European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine on Monday evening.
The new line of the corona virus has been spreading mainly in London, in the south-east and east of England since September.
However, there are also first cases in Scotland and Wales, as well as in states outside the United Kingdom, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.
The variant has not yet been detected in Germany.
However, experts consider it more than likely that it would also be found in this country if comprehensive genetic analyzes of the virus were to take place more frequently.
"I think that's already in Germany," said Drosten on Monday morning on Deutschlandfunk.
Other researchers, such as the bioinformatician Richard Neher from the University of Basel (here) and the infection and tropical medicine specialist Michael Hölscher from the Munich University Hospital (here) see it similarly.
Spread especially at high incidence
On Monday, Drosten was cautious about the possibly increased likelihood of infection.
“I'm not that concerned about that right now.
However, I am - just like everyone else - in a somewhat unclear information situation. «That has now changed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had recently announced that the new virus line was not yet out of control.
"Even if the virus spreads a little more efficiently, the virus can be stopped," said the WHO director for medical emergencies, Michael Ryan.
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With material from AFP
