Scientists at a university in Marseille discovered a previously unknown variant of the Corona. However, research on this is still at the very beginning. All information in the news ticker.
- After the Omikron discovery, another new mutation has now been reported in France.
- An expert is now classifying the new find (see update from January 5, 11:30 a.m.) .
- The number of infections in France has risen above 332,000 infections within a day for the first time (see update from January 5, 8:17 p.m.) .
- This news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from January 5, 2022, 8:17 p.m.: While it has not yet been finally clarified how the newly discovered variant is to be assessed, the corona infection numbers are exploding in France. The health authority of the neighboring country reports 332,252 new infections in just one day. The day before, the value was around 270,000 infections. With these numbers France reached a new high. The virus variant Omikron is predominant.
The French government is planning drastic restrictions on unvaccinated people in view of the numbers. For example, they should be denied access to restaurants, cinemas or long-distance trains.
New Corona variant in France – epidemiologist calls for close observation
Update from January 5, 2022, 11.30 a.m.: The new Corona variant Omikron is still a cause of concern for many experts, as another variant is already appearing in France. It has not yet been clarified whether the as yet unknown new mutation could be more dangerous for humans than, for example, the delta variant. As the epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Bremen explains to Focus Online , close monitoring is currently important. However, “only a few cases are known and we always had variants. In parallel to Omikron there were of course, at least from a global perspective, other variants that sometimes attracted more, sometimes less attention ”.
As Zeeb further explains, “initially a certain distance” must be maintained until it is clear whether the new variant is actually significant. He thinks it is unlikely that a new variant will currently “overrun” the rapidly spreading omicron mutation.
New Corona variant discovered in France – expert sees no reason to be “concerned”
Update from January 4, 2022, 1 p.m.: According to experts, a new Corona variant discovered in France should be observed – but they have not yet recognized a major risk. “We should observe these as well as other variants, but there is no reason to be particularly concerned about this variant,” Richard Neher, an expert on virus variants at the University of Basel, told the dpa news agency on Tuesday.
The US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding wrote on Twitter: “I’m not yet very worried about B.1.640.2. I doubt it will prevail over Omikron or Delta. French researchers led by Didier Raoult from the IHU Méditerranée Infection Institute had demonstrated the new variant in twelve patients in south-east France, as the team wrote in a preprint paper at the end of December. The patient, who was probably infected first in France, came back from a trip from Cameroon. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a specialist journal.
Raoult’s team writes as a conclusion: “It is too early to speculate about the virological, epidemiological or clinical properties of the new variant.” However, your data are another example of how unpredictable variants of the coronavirus could occur.
Update from January 4, 2022, 10.15 a.m.: A new Corona variant from Cameroon was detected in southern France and has been causing a stir since Monday evening. Karl Lauterbach comments on Merkur.de.
New Corona variant discovered in France – expert with assessment
Update from January 4, 2022, 9.30 a.m .: The discovery of the new Corona variant Omikron had just caused a stir, as France is already reporting the next new mutation. The newly discovered corona variant was first discovered in a person who had entered from Cameroon.
As Bild now reports, this person is said to have infected twelve other people in France with the newly discovered, as yet unknown variant. As the newspaper reported, citing media reports from France, scientists are to fear that this variant could possibly be even more contagious than the omicron mutation discovered in November. However, exact scientific results on the properties of the as yet unknown mutation are not yet available.
Is it up to general practitioner Dr. Christoph Specht, there is currently no reason to worry. “Mutations are the order of the day. It is more or less now due to chance that this mutation was reported, because there are constantly many more mutations that you don’t even notice, ”the doctor told RTL . Exact data on the effectiveness of vaccines or even on a possible danger from the new mutation are not yet available. However, the expert is relatively certain that this mutation could “disappear again quickly”.
New Corona variant discovered in southern France: “Atypical combination” of mutations
Original message from January 3, 2022: Paris / Marseille – The new year began with good news. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced that Omikron was much more contagious, but probably milder. But now scientists in France have discovered a new variant of the coronavirus * that could be more contagious. However, the data situation is still scarce.
New Corona variant discovered in France – that is known so far
The previously unknown variant of the coronavirus has the provisional designation B.1.640.2. Researchers at IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille had already discovered the mutation at the beginning of December and reported on it in a preprint study on December 29th. This is a scientific publication that has not yet been reviewed by other experts.
The experts speak of an “atypical combination” of mutations. According to this, 46 mutations could be identified in the variant. For comparison: The Omikron * variant has a total of 50 deviations, 32 of them in the spike protein. The new variant contains the already known mutations N501Y and E484K. According to experts, N501Y binds more easily to human cells and thus ensures faster spread.
Twelve people infected: New variant B.1.640.2 found in the traveler
The new variant was first discovered in a traveler from Cameroon. The study is based on data from twelve people infected with the new mutant. According to the Johns Hopkins Institute, the vaccination rate in Cameroon is around 2.4 percent. Mutations in a virus can develop particularly well in unvaccinated * or immunocompromised people. No data are currently available on the spread or danger of the new mutations. The new variant must now be investigated further.
New variants of the coronavirus are constantly being discovered, but only a few can prevail. * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Michel Euler
