Vietnam has discovered a new mutated strain of the emerging corona virus "Covid-19", according to what official media reported yesterday, Saturday, so what do we know about it?

What are you?

According to Health Minister Nguyen Than Long, the new version is a hybrid of the Indian and British versions of the coronavirus.

What do we mean by a hybrid strain?

What is different from mutated?

Variants are copies of the virus that contain a group of mutations, that is, changes in its genetic material.

The emergence of mutated versions of the virus is not surprising, but rather natural, because the virus mutates over time to ensure its survival.

Recombinant strains are the result of mixing two viruses that branch off from an original virus, that is, two different strains of the same virus.

Vincent Marechal, professor of virology at the Sorbonne University, says that all hybrid and mutated viruses are mutations that play the same role, that is, testing all solutions that enable the virus to continue, according to a previous report published by the French newspaper "Leparisien" by the writer Juliette Busson.

The traditional mutated strain is considered a mutation that occurs within the genome of a single virus, but hybrids are more like a kind of sexual reproduction of viruses. They are “the product of the mixture of two viruses that branch off from an original virus,” according to Marechal’s expression.

The difference between strains and hybrids of the Corona virus (Al Jazeera)

In order for this process to occur, it is necessary for two viruses to infect the same cell in one patient, and at a very precise moment replication occurs, resulting in a change in the matrix, and the enzyme responsible for the birth of a new copy, secretes a second hybrid virus.

Experts believe the UK variant is more transmissible than the normal strains, while the Indian variant is more transmissible and possibly less effective with immune system antibodies.

According to a report by the newspaper VnExpress, the genetic sequence conducted by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showed that at least 4 patients with "Covid-19" in the country carry the hybrid variant.

"We detected a Y144 deletion on the spike protein spike from strain B16172 B.1.617.2 (Indian). This mutation is similar to that of strain B117 B.1.1.7," said Lee Thi Quynh Mai, vice president of the institute. ).

She also said that such a mutation was not recorded by GISAID, a global scientific initiative and primary source that provides open access to genetic data for influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the "Covid-19" pandemic.

She said it therefore needs more monitoring and research.

Long returned to say that the Ministry of Health will announce the new strain of the Corona virus on the global genome map, adding that it has not yet been named.

What are the most prominent characteristics of the Indian and British dynasties?

The Indian strain of the Corona virus is considered a "double mutated" because it carries two worrying mutations at the level of the "spike" protein of the emerging corona virus - its scientific name is SARS Cove-2 - a protrusion on its cover that allows it to attach to human cells.

The first mutation, called E484Q, is suspected of reducing vaccine efficacy while increasing the risk of reinfection with COVID-19.

The second mutation, called L452R, may be able to cause an increase in transmission.

As for the British mutant strain, the most important mutations it contains are:

  • N501Y: This mutation makes the virus more widespread.

  • "70del-69" (69-70del)

  • P681H

How dangerous is the new strain?

According to the Vietnamese Minister of Health, Long, "One of the distinguishing features of this version is its rapid transmission through the air. The concentration of the virus in throat fluids increases rapidly and spreads very strongly in the surrounding environment."

"Vietnam has discovered a new strain of Covid-19 that combines the characteristics of the two strains observed in India and the United Kingdom... The new strain is very dangerous," Reuters quoted the minister as saying.

This is a worrying sign, because the ability of any virus to travel faster in the air means that it will be able to infect more people.

Long said culturing the virus in a lab revealed that the virus replicated itself very quickly.

The Ministry of Health reported that there were seven known mutated versions of the coronavirus in Vietnam before Long's announcement.

The need for further study

Scientists say more study is needed to determine the effect of the variable on real-world situations, according to a report in the Washington Post.

"Lots of different mutations occur during transmission and most of them have no clinical significance ... just because they say that (the new variant) has features of one and the other ... does not mean that they met," said Todd Pollack, an infectious disease expert in Hanoi at Harvard Medical School. Together in one patient, they released some mixed supervirus."

Some experts fear that vaccines may be less effective against strains of coronavirus that have been discovered in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, and this may apply to any new strain.