Corona variant B.1.640.2: Are experts concerned? That is how dangerous new corona mutations really are
Constantly new Corona variants keep experts around the world in suspense. Most recently, variant B.1.640.2 caused quite a stir in France – not to mention Omikron. But how dangerous are the new mutations really?
How dangerous are the new Corona variants according to experts?
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to die WHO considers the current corona wave caused by the Omikron variant to be worrying. Together with the delta variant, it could lead to a “tsunami of fallen,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. there are first indications that the course of the disease with omicrons could, it said overall. The uncertainties in assessing the variant are still great. Also an in France Experts should be observed when new corona variants are discovered. How dangerous are new mutations really?
Corona-News aktuell: variant B.1.640.2 does not concern experts
Experts have so far not seen any great danger with the new variant B.1.640.2. “We should observe this as well as other variants, but there is no reason to be particularly concerned about this variant,” said Richard Neher, expert on virus variants at the University of Basel (Switzerland), on Tuesday of the dpa news agency. The US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding wrote on Twitter: “I’m not very worried about B.1.640.2. I doubt that it will prevail against Omikron or Delta.”
Corona mutations: B.1.640.2 probably from Cameroon to France
French researchers led by Didier Raoult from the IHU Méditerranée Infection Institute had detected the new variant in twelve patients in south-east FranceAs the team wrote in a so-called 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 The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a specialist journal.
The team led by Raoult wrote as a result: “It is too early to speculate about the virological, epidemiological or clinical properties of the new variant.” But your data is another example of how unpredictable variants of the coronavirus could occur. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said on “merkur.de”: “We still don’t know enough to be able to say anything useful.”
B.1.640.2 with mutations in the spike protein – escape mutation?
B.1.640.2 has some mutations in the so-called spike protein, which experts already know from the particularly contagious omicron variant, as Raoult and his team write. The spike protein is particularly important when assessing variants because it binds the virus to human cells and also because vaccines target this protein. Mutations in the spike protein can cause the virus to spread faster. It is also possible for vaccines to lose their effectiveness.
However, B.1.640.2 does not seem to have spread much so far, says the Basel expert Neher. She is “thus” one of the many “that has not prevailed against Omikron and Delta at least so far”.
WHO observes new variants such as B.1.640.2 and B.1.640
B.1.640.2 belongs to a kind of variant family that has been on the radar of the World Health Organization (WHO) since November. WHO epidemiologist Abdi Mahamud referred to this in Geneva. According to WHO information, 1,640 was first registered in September from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and under observation in November, but according to the available data it has not spread significantly, said Mahamud. “We’ll keep an eye on them.”
The WHO distinguishes three categories of potentially dangerous corona variants: (1) variants of concern, (2) variants of interest and (3) variants under observation. B.1.640 is in Category 3, as are two other variants, Omikron in Category 1. A total of 17 variants that WHO has been using since the beginning of the pandemic observed, have proven to be short-lived or less threatening and are no longer under special observation.
WHO looks to the Corona situation in 2022 with cautious optimism
Overall, the World Health Organization (WHO) is cautiously optimistic about the likely Corona situation this year. Among other things, it is important that at least 70 percent of the population in each country is vaccinated by the middle of the year, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. Then it is possible that the pandemic at least with its severe courses will end. “We can bring the phase of hospitalizations and death to an end,” said WHO expert Mike Ryan. The WHO is also counting on further advances in the use of drugs in the therapy against Covid-19 in the next year.
Vaccinations pave the way out of the pandemic
Tedros again urged all states not to be stubborn but to help with a fair distribution of the vaccine. “It is time to defy short-term nationalism and protect populations and the economy through equitable distribution of the vaccine around the world.”
Already read? Tougher corona rules for unvaccinated people? Lauterbach calls for tightening
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sig / bos / news.de / dpa