A new variant of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus has been detected in Brittany, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) announced on Monday March 15, specifying that investigations are underway to assess its transmissibility and severity.
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In the meantime, this variant has been classified in the “
to be monitored
” category by the authorities, which includes most of the thousands of variants that appear naturally in the world, and of which only a small proportion will ultimately pose particular public health problems, for example if they turn out to be more transmissible.
The health authorities first detected in Brittany several cases of patients presenting the symptoms of Covid, "
attached to a cluster
" but whose PCR tests were negative.
This is a cluster at the Lannion hospital center (Côtes-d'Armor).
On March 13, 79 cases were identified there, including 8 cases carrying the variant, confirmed by sequencing.
Analyzes carried out by the Pasteur Institute have revealed "
a new variant (...) carrying nine mutations in the region encoding the S protein but also in other viral regions
", specified the DGS in a message. health professionals.
No increased severity at this stage
"
An evaluation is underway in order to assess the possible impact of these genetic modifications on a lack of recognition by virological tests leading to an under-diagnosis
", she continues.
"
The first analyzes of this new variant do not allow to conclude either a severity or an increased transmissibility compared to the historical virus
", indicates another press release from the DGS on Monday evening, adding that "
in-depth investigations are underway in order to better know this variant
”.
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The appearance of virus variants is a natural process since the virus acquires mutations over time to ensure its survival.
At this stage, three variants around the world are considered to be of particular concern, those which were first detected in England, South Africa and Japan (but on travelers from Brazil, hence its common name of "
Brazilian variant
”).
At the same time, there is a second category of variants, monitored by the international scientific community because of their potentially problematic genetic characteristics but which still circulate only on a smaller scale.
