The recent outbreak of Chinese communist pneumonia (COVID-19) has accelerated globally, largely due to the emergence of several new variant strains that are more infectious than the previous Chinese communist virus. One of these variants, found in South Africa, has been detected with multiple echinocandin mutations, and virus experts are concerned that such mutations may render the just-developed vaccine ineffective.
CCP pneumonia has so far infected more than 85 million people worldwide and killed 1.8 million. As several vaccines for the CCP virus were officially launched and mass vaccinations began, new strains with greater infectivity were suddenly discovered in several countries, including the United Kingdom, with the variant found in South Africa causing particular concern among medical experts.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports, the University of Reading (University of Reading) cell biologist Simon Clarke (Simon Clarke) recently told the media that experts have found after preliminary research that the new mutant strain found in South Africa and the mutant strain found in the United Kingdom, although there are some common points, but the South African strain of spine protein changes more extensive, which may lead to a more sluggish immune response to the virus triggered by the vaccine.
Lawrence Young, a professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, also pointed out that multiple echinocandin variations were indeed detected in the recently discovered South African variant of the virus, and the more variations accumulated in the virus, the more “leaky” the human immune system may be.
According to BBC Chinese, virus experts have found that the South African variant carries a mutation called E484K among other genetic mutations, making it different from the kind of variants that British scientists have been studying recently. The changes in the new British variant are unlikely to compromise the effectiveness of the current vaccine, but the mutations in the South African variant have the potential to affect the vaccine’s function to some degree. More testing is needed to determine the extent to which the South African variant will affect the effectiveness of the vaccine.
The report said that the coronal material of coronaviruses, like the corona, is the stinger protein, which is the “key” for the virus to enter human cells and is the focus of vaccine development, and is the main target of the host’s immune defense. This is why experts are particularly concerned about changes in the spinosin protein of the South African variant of the virus.
Professor Francois Balloux, a researcher at the Institute of Genetics at University College London (UCL), was quoted as saying, “The E484K mutation has been found to reduce antibody recognition. It therefore helps the SARS-CoV-2 virus to bypass the immune protection provided by prior infection or vaccination”.
The South African variant of the virus, which has caused much concern among experts, has now not only become the dominant virus variant in eastern South Africa and the Western Cape, but has also appeared in Austria, Norway, Japan and the United Kingdom. To stop the virus from spreading further around the world, several countries, including the UK, have halted entry of South African flights and restricted flights to South Africa. Anyone who has recently visited South Africa, and anyone who has had contact with them, has been told to quarantine immediately.
Professor Barry Schoub, chairman of the South African government’s Vaccine Advisory Committee, said the “preliminary evidence” from the tests did not indicate that the variants would “escape” the effects of the existing vaccine, and that laboratory tests showed that the vaccine still had a neutralizing effect on the new variants. The laboratory results show that the vaccine still has a neutralizing effect on the new variant. However, Professor Shabir Madhi, who is in charge of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trial in South Africa, said that critical laboratory tests have not yet begun and that the vaccine’s efficacy against the new variant will only be known “in the next few weeks.
Recent Comments