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Just a few months after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic began, vaccines against this virus entered the scene.
However, the cast of roles included other actors,
variants
, whose mission was to continue to maintain the tension: alpha, beta, gamma, delta ... They focus the attention of scientists from around the world and health authorities.
Just this week, the
South African
National Institute for Communicable Diseases
(NICD) has warned of a new one, called '
C.1.2
'.
How is the current landscape changing?
Will it displace the others?
Where and when has the new variant been identified?
The
C.1.2 variant
was first identified in May in
South Africa
.
Specifically, in the provinces of Gauteng and Mpumalanga, although it has already spread to the nine provinces of the country.
However, it has also been found in New Zealand, Mauritius, Portugal or Switzerland.
What is the current prevalence?
Based on the latest available data, it appears that
variant
'
C.1.2
' represents less than 1% of
Covid-19
cases
worldwide.
However, experts from the NICD and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform believe that the prevalence is probably underestimated.
Does the new variant cause concern?
Really, the concern of scientists is that a variant may appear that apart from
spreading rapidly
, is capable of dodging the shield of vaccines.
Is this the case of variant 'C.1.2?
For now, the authors of the study managed by the NICD point out that this variant has had multiple changes in a protein associated with increased transmissibility and avoidance of the effect of vaccines.
However, the work has not yet been reviewed or validated with all the criteria that an investigation requires to draw firm conclusions.
In fact, those responsible for the analysis urge to continue examining this question to determine with reliability if 'C.1.2' could be more dangerous than the
Delta variant
.
Why does some concern about this variant jump to the media?
According to the NICD report, "the mutation rate of the '
C.1.2
'
lineage
is 1.7 times faster than the overall rate," which raises some "concern."
And precisely because of this concern, the authors decided to bring their findings to light, before the work was peer-reviewed, since in times of pandemic, it is "crucial to share information, better sooner than later."
So is it really more transmissible than the delta variant?
There is "concern", but no confirmation that its transmissibility exceeds that of delta.
The truth is that scientists are really not sure if '
C.1.2
'
mutations
are more easily transmissible or if this new variant of
Covid-19
could evade vaccines.
What has been seen is that '
C.1.2
' shares some mutations with other variants, such as delta (originated in India) or beta (emerged last year in South Africa), but has other unique ones.
As the NICD scientist Cathrine Scheepers pointed out on the telematics wheel, the new variant presents "up to 59 mutations, which are many", if one takes into account that other variants usually have "around 25".
However, Scheepers pointed out that "right now we don't know" if it is more transmissible.
Scientists continue to do experiments to find out more about it.
For the World Health Organization (WHO), despite its mutational capacity, "'C.1.2' is not a" worrying variant "or" of interest ".
Will you really be able to dodge the protection of vaccines?
In the words of experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, "we suspect that it could partially evade the immune response, but despite this, vaccines will continue to offer high levels of protection against hospitalization and death."
In this sense, another of the NICD experts, Adrian Puren, assured at a press conference that the vaccines currently used in
South Africa
(Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer) are "effective" under '
C.1.2
', so there is no reason for "panic".
In fact, he added, "the pandemic in South Africa continues to be dominated by the delta variant."
Is 'C.1.2' expected to displace the rest of the SARS-CoV-2 variants?
To answer this question, you must first be certain of the capabilities of this variant.
At the moment, it is not predominant and, in addition, it should be emphasized, according to the experts, that what is expected is that "new variants will develop as a natural evolution of the virus."
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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