How is the new variant found in South Africa? Mutations never seen before and a positivity of 1 to 30% in just three weeks

• Direct Latest news about the coronavirus

• Health South Africa detects a new variant of Covid-19 with multiple mutations

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in

, has confirmed that a

has been detected

.

Other labs are confirming increasing cases as sequencing results come out.

Significant growth

The cases detected and the percentage of positive results are increasing rapidly, especially in Gauteng (an urban area that includes Pretoria and Johannesburg), but also in the north-west of the country and in Limpopo. Tshwane (part of Guateng) positivity rates have increased in the last 3 weeks

This is how the new

is spreading

: the following graph (from the

) depicts the variants widespread in the country since the start of the pandemic. Light gray represents many different types of virus characteristic of the first wave; in green the second wave characterized by the prevalence of

; in red the third wave of

, in yellow the growth of variant C.1.2 cases (still detected, but not increasing) and

(increasing very rapidly).

32 mutations in the spike protein

The variant was

detected

is not known where he was born, because South Africa and Botswana (and Kenya) have superior genomic tracking and sequencing capabilities to other African countries.

What is known so far is that

has

the part of the virus that most vaccines use to activate the immune system against

), far more than

and

combined.

Among others are:

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

.

Some mutations

, others are known (we know about them from variants and previous studies), and have been linked to a variant's ability to be more

delivered

.

However, the scientists say, mutations often work together, making it impossible to predict what this particular combination might mean.

Too early to draw conclusions

The good news is that the variant

, molecular swabs,

thanks to the deletion of

.

Laboratory studies have begun to better understand the consequences of this variant in terms of

, but results will take 2-3 weeks.

Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said that work in his laboratory has found in the past that two of the mutations in

increased infectivity and reduced antibody recognition.

Members of the World Health Organization will give the new variant a Greek name, which

.

So far the competition of the new variants with the Delta has been winning for the latter due to its transmission capacity so high that no other variant has managed to establish.

Variant born from an immunosuppressed patient

Meanwhile, measures on vaccines and protective equipment in South Africa will be strengthened.

The origin of the new variant is debated: South Africa has high levels of infection, but

have been fully vaccinated).

Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute and professor of computational biology at University College London, says in a statement published by the Media Center of Science that the new variant likely evolved during

of an immunosuppressed person,

untreated

.

The soaring number of HIV cases has complicated South Africa's efforts to fight the

, as immunosuppressed people can harbor the virus for longer, the scientists said.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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