New cobi19 variant spreading in New York
A new cobi19 variant is on the rise in New York City, researchers said on Wednesday.
The new variant, known as B.1.526, was first identified in samples collected in New York in November, and by mid-February represented about 12% of cases, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said on Wednesday.
Reuters: The variant was also described in research published online this week by the California Institute of Technology. Neither study has been reviewed by outside experts.
It shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable variant discovered in South Africa.
The Columbia researchers said an analysis of publicly available databases did not show a high prevalence of cobi19 variants recently identified in South Africa and Brazil in case samples from New York City and surrounding areas.
“Instead we found high numbers of this home-grown lineage,” Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a statement.
The Columbia study found that B.1.526 shares some worrying characteristics with B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa, and P.1., which was first identified in Brazil. Several studies have suggested that those new variants are more resistant to some existing vaccines than earlier versions of the cobi19.
The researchers said the main concern is a change in one area of the bichito’ spike protein, called E484K, that is present in all three variants. The E484K mutation is believed to weaken the body’s immune response to the bichito.
Studies have shown that recently launched cobi19 vaccines are still likely to neutralise the bichito and protect against severe illness, even for infections with new variants. Vaccine makers are also working to develop booster shots to combat mutated versions of the bichito.
tremenda capacidad de análisis. Me pregunto quien crees que es el que me paga y cuanto. Porque escribo poco, vengo principalmente a leer y cuando me meto en política, cosa que trato de evitar porque me caliento bastante, he rajado de todos los partidos.
