Covid. Very rare variant identified in Varese, so far only one other case in Thailand

• Coronavirus: 23,641 new cases with 355,024 swabs and 307 victims

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06 March 2021 Identified, in the microbiology laboratory of the Asst Sette Laghi, Varese, a very rare variant described in only one other case in the world.

Many swabs carried out in the Lombard city.

The team of the Asst Sette Laghi Microbiology Laboratory, led by Fabrizio Maggi, noted that the sequencing of the entire spike protein, that part of the Sars Cov-2 that makes contact with the cells to be invaded, has revealed a molecular structure unique, different from all the others, even from that of the other variants already identified in Varese in recent weeks, in some cases for the first time in Italy.

Maggi, who also holds the chair of Microbiology at the University of Insubria, and his team studied this sequence and formulated a hypothesis.

Hypothesis then confirmed by colleagues at San Raffaele in Milan who, in a short time, amplified and reconstructed the entire genome of the virus: the one identified in the Asst Sette Laghi Laboratory is "a variant of the virus found only once in the world , in a place very far from Italy, in Thailand, isolated in a traveler returning from Egypt ".

"The molecular structure of this variant does not seem to present characteristics that could reduce the efficacy of vaccines, on the other hand it shows genetic mutations to be studied", the laboratory experts specify, illustrating the characteristics of the very rare variant

"It will be equally interesting to reconstruct the this variant, found in a patient admitted to the Circolo hospital ", specifies the health company.

"The identification of this variant, which has only one other case described in the world, is the result of collaboration with colleagues at San Raffaele. But it is also the starting point for new studies and insights - Maggi is keen to explain - In particular, now that the entire genome of this variant of the virus has been reconstructed, we could understand its biological significance with in vitro studies and demonstrate its possible clinical and epidemiological impact on the population ".

In the Microbiology laboratory, Maggi has organized a team of professionals dedicated to sequencing the variants of the new Coronavirus.

"Their tools can be traced back to two technologies in particular: one is the one that has been called 'the Ferrari of tampons, worth over 80 thousand euros".

The other is the sequencing machine, already in use in the Asst Sette Laghi Laboratories.