Just when we thought things were improving at least a little, a new variant has emerged. And we don’t know how dangerous it is.
As Omicron cases continue to increase around the world and very rapidly, scientists have identified a new variant of COVID-19 that carries up to 46 mutations and is spreading across a region in southeastern France. The mutant strain is believed to be more infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the parent virus.
This new mutant strain, called B.1.640.2 or IHU, has 46 mutations in an “atypical combination .” That’s several more mutations than Ómicron at 37, according to a pre-print study that has yet to be peer-reviewed.
According to this study, the two already known spike protein mutations N501Y and E484K are also found in the new crown variant . The N501Y mutation causes the pathogen to bind more strongly to human cells and therefore spread more easily in the body. E484K reduces the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
Twelve cases have been reported so far near Marseille and the first is associated with a trip to Cameroon (Africa). Although it is not yet outperforming the dominant variant, which is the Omicron.
Be that as it may, it is too early to draw conclusions about the epidemiology of the new variant, discovered by academics at France’s IHU Mediterranee Infection on December 10. What we do know is that since its inception, Ómicron has traveled all over the world and has ignited record levels of contagion, unlike the French that, for the moment, is limited to the Marseille area.
The first patient identified with the variant was vaccinated and had just returned from Cameroon, IHU researchers wrote in a paper posted on the medRxiv server in late December 2021, where they first drew attention to these mutations. Nor do we yet know anything about the origin of this new variant. The fact that B.1.640.2 has now been detected for the first time in a returnee from Cameroon does not mean that the variant has also emerged in the Central African country.
It is a distant relative of Omicron, which scientists say likely evolved from an older virus. Specifically, the variant is a “sister” to the B.1.640 strain (now called B.1.640.1), which was labeled a “variant under control” by the WHO in November 2021. IHU was first identified in mid- November in Paris, which means it actually predates Omicron.
“These observations show once again the unpredictability of the appearance of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and their introduction from abroad. And they exemplify the difficulty of controlling such introduction and subsequent spread, “say the scientists in their paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed and does not contain any information on the severity or transmissibility of the new variant of the coronavirus.
At the moment, it is not a cause for alarm. Just remember that very low vaccination rates generally favor the appearance of new coronavirus mutations, as is the case in Cameroon, where only 2.4% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore ( U.S).
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