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The British and South African variants of the coronavirus are joined by another, this time detected in Japan, in travelers returning from Brazil. Could the new strain of coronavirus be more contagious or immune to the vaccine? For now, there are many unknowns.
- Another variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has appeared in the world. The strain was detected in travelers returning from Brazil to Japan
- Japanese scientists are analyzing the genetic sequence of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant. One of the mutations is known to correspond to the one identified in the British and South African strains
- You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page
The Japanese Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been identified. The strain did not originate in Japan, but was detected in travelers from Brazil in early January 2021.
Authorities said research is ongoing to investigate the effectiveness of vaccines against a new variant that differs in certain genetic sequences from variants first found in South Africa and the UK. These two variants are likely to be more contagious.
“There is currently no evidence that the new coronavirus variant found in Brazilian travelers is highly contagious,” said Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
See also: The British variant of the coronavirus is reaching more countries. Is it in Poland?
Mutations within the SARS-CoV-2 virus genes
After analyzing the genetic sequence of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus variant, Japanese scientists identified 12 mutations in the virus’s genes. One of them has also been identified in strains found in Great Britain and South Africa. This might suggest that this new variant, too, is more contagious, although as Wakita rightly pointed out, there is no evidence for this yet.
So far, four cases of infection with the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus have been confirmed, during tests carried out at airports to people arriving in Japan.
The man who tested positive did not have any symptoms after arriving in Japan. The symptoms of the infection appeared later and were so severe that he had to be hospitalized. The second infected was a woman who complained of headache and sore throat. Infection with the new variant was also discovered in two teenagers. One of them developed a fever, the other had no symptoms.
Also check: Who can get vaccinated against COVID-19? CDC Recommendations
The “Japanese” (or rather “Brazilian”) variant is the third new strain that we have recently learned about. Given that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination has just begun in some countries around the world, including Poland, questions arise as to whether the vaccine will be effective against new variants of the virus.
Pfizer / BioNtech has already confirmed that vaccines are effective against two new variants of SARS-CoV-2 – British and South African. They will likely work for the Japanese variant as well.
Virologist Dr. Tomasz Dzieśćtkowski in an interview with Medonet explained that it is unlikely that a single change in the viral genome would significantly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.
– Most of these mutations do not translate into the antigenic structure of this virus, i.e. figuratively speaking: the chocolate changes, but their box, i.e. what our immune system recognizes, remains unchanged.
Check it out: Virologist on the new coronavirus mutation: it’s no wonder [EXPLAINED]
Will this also be the case for the new variant? For now, scientists are studying the genetic sequence of this strain, so we will have to wait a while for the applications.
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