The coronavirus creates more mutations. We “provoke” him ourselves. The expert says how

The world must be ready for new variants of the coronavirus, warns WHO. Dr. Afelt is straightforward. «Let us not delude ourselves that the virus will end up with a mutation BA.5. Such thinking would be naïve ”. The fact that the virus is constantly changing is actually the only certain thing that can be said about SARS-CoV-2. It turns out, however, that we unconsciously “provoke” him to create new mutations. How and how to protect yourself in this situation?

1. WHO: As COVID-19 cases increase, the world must be ready for new variants of the coronavirus
2. Dr. Aneta Afelt, a health geographer and a member of the COVID-19 advisory team to the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences: the fact that the virus is changing is normal and we knew it from the beginning of the pandemic
3. We also have our part in it, we unconsciously “provoke” the pathogen to create new variants. How does this happen, explains Dr. Afelt
4. More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

WHO: The World Must Be Ready For New Coronavirus Variants

The sub-variant of Omicron BA.5 is spreading around the world, causing further increases in infections. Almost half of all new infections occur in Europe. On July 19, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that as COVID-19 cases increased, the world must be ready for new variants of the coronavirus.

“We have to be prepared for COVID-19 waves – each new variant will be more infectious and immune to avoidance – more infected will translate into more hospitalizations and illnesses. All countries must have a data-driven plan to react quickly to changes in the situation », WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned on Twitter a few days ago.

Unfortunately, one thing we can be sure of about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is that it is constantly changing. We already know the mutations Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omikron with their sub-variants (B.1.1.529, BA.1, BA.1.1., BA.2, BA.3, BA.4 and BA. 5). There is more and more talk about BA. 2.75, which is Centaurus.

Coronary virus mutations. “We knew this from the beginning of the pandemic”

On the subject of variability of SARS-CoV-2 and other variants, Dr. Aneta Afelt says directly: – Let’s not delude ourselves that the evolution of the virus will end up with the BA.5 mutation. Such thinking would be naïve. It is normal that the virus is changing, and we’ve known it right from the start of the pandemic, ‘he emphasizes, adding:’ It’s just its nature, a biological process. Let us not forget that it goes on all the time. The virus continues to adapt to the conditions it has.

In the April publication of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Prof. Stuart Ray noted: «New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are detected weekly. Most come and go, some persist but do not become more common. ‘ Some, like BA.5, are unfortunately spreading around the world.

In a word: as long as the coronavirus continues to spread through the population, mutations will continue to emerge and the Delta or Omikron variant families will continue to evolve. And while the new variants are an expected part of virus evolution, monitoring for all of them is essential. Thanks to this, we are prepared for what a new mutation may bring.

We “provoke” the virus to create new variants ourselves

We have already emphasized many times that the nature of the coronavirus is change and subsequent mutations. Unfortunately, the truth is also that we help him in this. Dr. Aneta Afelt spoke about it in an interview with Medonet.

– It is done by drastically shortening the geographical distance – says Dr. Afelt shortly. – Theoretically, we still live in the same places, but in fact we are constantly on the move: to school, work, business trips, weekends, holidays. And it happens very quickly. When we fly out of Warsaw, we can be in Singapore within 12 hours.

Even a hundred years ago, we moved less and it took longer. This was not conducive to the formation of geographically distant chains of infections or helped to break existing ones, emphasizes the scientist.

How is it today? – Let me give you an example. We spend holidays with the whole family or with friends in a country with a climate different from ours. There is a high probability that one of us will be unknowingly exposed to the coronavirus. By the time we realize that we have “caught” the virus and are infecting others, we may already be in a completely different place in the world. It takes an average of five days from infection to disease development (also without symptoms). During this time, we can return from vacation, go to another place – unfortunately, there are many possibilities.

New Coronavirus Mutations – What Can We Do?

How could all of this affect the course of a pandemic? – It depends, among others from how our organisms adapt to the pathogen, what preventive measures we introduce at the medical level and, finally, how the coronavirus will react to these changes – says Dr. Afelt. – There are many unknowns, but for scientists it is not a surprise – he emphasizes.

The question is, what can be done in such a situation? «We must continue all efforts to prevent the transmission of the virus »- in the mentioned article by Johns Hopkins Medicine, the expert on infectious diseases, Prof. Robert Bollinger. The idea is not only to follow the sanitary regime (face masks, hand disinfection, distance), but also to vaccinate as many people as possible “as soon as possible” and to encourage booster doses in eligible individuals.

Referring to the last clue, from July 22, people aged 60+ will have the opportunity to take a second booster dose in Poland. As emphasized by the Minister of Health in this age group, “120 days after taking the first booster dose, we recommend taking a second booster dose”. From that date, the Ministry of Health also allows additional vaccination for immunocompromised people aged 12 years and over.