More than 20 Delta variant connections detected in Portugal in recent weeks | Coronavirus
More than 20 elevations of the Delta genetic variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were detected in recent weeks in Portugal and AY.4.2, which has deserved the interest of the international scientific community, has increased in circulation since the October publication.
According to the report released this Tuesday by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (Insa), 22 Delta sequels were “consecutively detected” in the last three weeks with analyzes completed and in the week still with provisional data. Insa points out that the discrimination against teenagers, who have the Y prefix, does not indicate that they are more transmissible of the virus, associated with serious illness or have a greater capacity to evade the immune system.
Regarding AY.4.2, which has aroused particular interest in the international community due to its growing frequency in the United Kingdom, the report adds that, after several weeks with reduced frequencies, there was an “increase in the circulation of this media” in the weeks between 18 and the 24th and 25th and 31st of October, representing 1.8% and 3.2% of accounts at the national level.
“However, it should be noted that the cases detected in that period were exclusively in the Algarve (16 cases) and Madeira (three cases)”, says Insa, explaining that this old age has two additional mutations in the virus spike protein, responsible by the binding and entry of SARS-CoV-2 into human cells. Up to the data were detected 28 cases associated with this independence in Portugal, which represent several independent introductions in the country.
The 10,943 Delta sequences analyzed by Insa are divided into more than 40 secrgens. According to the institute, between 11 and 24 October, a Delta variant continued to be dominant throughout the country, with no cases of Gama (first identified in Brazil) having been detected since September and Beta (first observed in Africa). South) since July.
As part of the continuous monitoring of the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2, 20,424 sequences of the genome of the new coronavirus have already been analyzed, an old one collected in more than 100 laboratories, hospitals and other institutions, representing 303 municipalities in Portugal. In June, the institute announced a strengthening of surveillance of the variants of the virus that causes covid-19 in circulation in Portugal, through its continuous monitoring. According to Insa, this strategy, a better genetic characterization of SARS-CoV-2, since the data are continuously disseminated, existing time intervals between analyses, which were dedicated, essentially, to specific studies of genetic characterization requested by health public.
