Covid-19. Recombinant viruses identified in “sporadic cases” in Portugal
Portugal has registered “sporadic cases” of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, including a case of the one designated this Tuesday in the Center region, announced the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA).
“In Portugal, the few recombinant viruses identified until the data were detected in sporadic cases in the weekly random samples” that are by the INSA, advanced on the genetic diversity of the coronavirus SARS-CoV Portugal.
The circulation of several lines or variants of the virus at the same time in the community increases the possibility of mixed infections, that is, when a person is infected simultaneously by more than one of them.
This can lead to a mixture of genetic material between these strains, resulting in a genetic profile called “recombinant”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO)2, there are already several varieties of SARS-CoV-recombinant, among which most result from the Lineages.
Among the recombinant viruses is XM, detected for the first time in the United Kingdom in January and which, according to preliminary data, could be 10% more transmissible than the BA.2 strain.
According to INSA, in Portugal “there is a case associated with the recombinant with international designation XM” detected between the end of March and the beginning of April in the Center region, which is characterized by a hybrid genetic profile, in which the first half of the genome is BA.1 and second is BA.2.
“Recombinant XM has been detected mainly in Germany and the Netherlands, and there is no evidence (proof) of presenting functional differences in transmissibility or immune system evasion in relation to the BA.1 and BA.2 parental strains”, advancing the INSA report. .
According to the findings released today, the BA.2 lineage of the Ómicron variant is responsible for 94.2% of infections recorded in Portugal, given that BA.1, which became prevalent in the country, represents the remaining 5.8%.
Regarding Ómicron’s new strains, INSA adds that BA.5 was detected in only one case in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region and that, until the data, no BA.4 case was detected in Portugal.
As part of the continuous monitoring of the diversity of SARS-CoV-2 that the INSA is operating, there were 520 sequences from an average of 2021 to the beginning of 2021, from randomly selected in 18 labor districts of mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of the Azores and of Madeira, covering an average of 137 municipalities per week.