A new subspecies of “omicron” SARS-CoV-2 has been discovered in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. informs Chinese edition of Global Times citing local health authorities. The sample, which is unlike any of the known variants, was taken from a patient with moderate COVID-19 and it is not yet clear how dangerous it might be.
The new subspecies may well reach Russia, says immunologist Vladimir Bolibok.
“There is a danger that the subspecies will be introduced and then spread with us,” he told socialbites.ca.
– The greatest concern is due to the emergence of new lines, types, subtypes – that is, mutations that somehow bypass and also transmit immune protection in people who have been vaccinated and who have already been sick. Further forward. And now the case registered in China is only a bit of a concern because because a new version has caused it, it means that it not only has the ability to reproduce inside a person, but also has the ability to be transmitted from person to person.
Another new subspecies of the genus “Omicron” has been reported in the UK. According to this expression local Health Safety Agency, the “omicron XE” subtype is a mutation of the so-called recombinant BA.1 and BA.2 subtypes. Currently, it’s only been found in Thailand outside of the UK, but it’s apparently worth waiting for it to pop up in other countries. The new subtype is almost 10% more contagious, but it is not yet fully understood whether the disease itself will become more severe.
“I want to say that from the very beginning of the pandemic, coronavirus infection showed great potential for mutations,” says Bolibok. – In principle, this is often characteristic of viral infections, and when they began to study SARS-CoV-2 very closely, they found that:
it mutates constantly, giving new subtypes, new lines, these lines develop for a while, then gradually disappear.
Mutations of the virus occur constantly in the body of an infected person, and with prolonged illness, several dozen can accumulate. But not all of them can be preserved, transmitted to other people, and made into a separate subspecies.
“The potential for more mutations of the coronavirus has not been exhausted yet,” says Bolibok. “All these mutations that lead to new lines, new strains affect the spike protein of the coronavirus that is on the outside. It turns out like a female hairstyle: I want blonde, I want brunette, I want curls, it is constantly changing. The main function of the spike protein is to attach to the ACE2 receptor, which is a human protein. “The receptor is big, so is the spike protein, and there can be a wide variety of variations in the theme of its changes. Until now, even computer models have not been able to calculate all possible mutations.”
In addition to the new “omicron”-strain varieties, the already known ones are gaining strength. The BA.2 subtype, referred to in many countries as “hidden omicron”, is replacing its counterpart BA.1. In some regions of Russia, its share give account More than 70% of all COVID-19 cases.
“I think mutations will continue to emerge for a while,” Bolibok concludes. “And epidemics will continue until the virus has gone through all possible mutations and herd immunity has resolved them.”
China is radically combating COVID-19 outbreaks by imposing curfews – the virus is not spreading to neighboring areas and cities, and the epidemic is declining, explains the doctor. Future waves of coronavirus in Russia can be contained through vaccination. In April, the Ministry of Health registered the Gam-COVID-Vak nasal coronavirus vaccine, which consists of two components based on adenovirus vectors such as Sputnik V. Earlier, in March, the Ministry of Health also registered the Convasel vaccine, developed on the basis of the SARS-CoV-2 N-protein, which is not susceptible to mutations – it is assumed that it can provide stable cellular immunity against coronavirus.