The UK has notified the World Health Organisation over the latest variant, which appears to be responsible for the faster spread of the virus throughout the southeast of the country.
More than 1,000 infections related to this specific mutation have been reported in nearly 60 different local authorities in England, though the British government insists the new strain does not cause a more serious disease and is unlikely to affect the nationwide rollout of vaccines.
The Independent reports that experts have insisted that mutations are to be expected and not necessarily feared after the government announced that a new strain of coronavirus had been identified in England. Scientists have praised the speed at which the UK’s genomics network picked up the mutation, adding that more information and analysis would be needed to determine the threat posed by this particular strand of Sars-CoV-2.
Wendy Barclay, head of the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, said: “Mutations are expected to occur as [the virus] replicates. Some variants with changes in the spike protein have already been observed as the virus is intensely sequenced here in the UK and around the world.”
The mutation that was identified in Denmark’s mink population earlier this year is one of the many genetic variations to have been observed in Sars-CoV-2 during the course of the pandemic. That strain has shown “moderately decreased sensitivity” to the body’s neutralising antibodies, but there have been no indications it could reduce the effectiveness of a vaccine, despite apparent genetic changes to the virus’s spike protein.
The UK’s new strain contains similar mutations to the spike receptor, which is the target of most vaccines currently in development, but Andrew Davidson, a reader in virology at the University of Bristol, does not believe this will present a significant issue.
“Only changes that make viruses more ‘fit’ for transmission are likely to be stable and result in new circulating strains,” he said. “This does not mean that a new virus will cause more severe disease or avoid vaccines but it could transmit more efficiently between people. This has already happened for Sars-CoV-2.
“It is very important that we carry out active surveillance to identify changes in Sars-CoV-2, as they occur, and study the properties of any new viruses to determine if they pose a greater threat to human health. Preparedness is key to prevention of spread and updating vaccines if necessary.”
[link url="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-uk-new-strain-mutation-b1773908.html"]Full The Independent report[/link]