What kind of mutations are there in the mutant virus?
It is compiled based on the announcements of the British government and health authorities, and the materials of ECDC = European Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Q. What kind of mutation is it?
According to health officials, the genetic information for this mutant has a total of 23 mutations.
When the genetic information changes, some of the proteins produced from it may change, and when some of the proteins change, the functions they are responsible for may also change.
Of particular note are some mutations found in areas called "spike proteins" that protrude a lot like "nails" on the surface of the virus.
"Spike proteins" have been shown to play an important role in the virus's entry into human cells, and health officials have said that changes in this area are more likely to be transmitted to humans and spread from person to person. It is said that it may lead to such things.
Q. What is the infectivity?
The British government says that mutant strains appear to be 70% more infectious than traditional viruses, increasing the "effective reproduction number", which indicates how many people can spread from one infected person, by 0.4 or more. We are investigating it as possible.
Meanwhile, British health officials say it's not uncommon for the virus to mutate, just as the winter flu virus in the Northern Hemisphere mutates every year.
Q. What is the future expansion?
According to government announcements, the mutant strain confirmed in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in at least 21 countries and regions as of the 28th, except in Japan.
"In most EU countries, genome analysis is less common than in the UK, so it's possible that this new mutant is already prevalent in the EU," the ECDC said.