Western k-virus is more aggressive and when to expect a mutation of the "supertype"?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Over the entire time of the pandemic, the coronavirus managed to mutate several times, scientists say, while the mutation occurs too quickly. It has now been found that the virus in the US and Europe is different from the virus in China or South Korea, and is more aggressive in the West. Isn't it time to prepare for the appearance of his "supertype"?

Measures taken around the world to combat the COVID-19 epidemic are allowing humankind to learn more about this deadly virus. According to a recent article published in the American journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", today there are three types of coronavirus, which depend on the characteristics of the immunity of different population groups. Academician Zhong Nanshan also stated that the new virus through mutation adapts to the human environment and becomes more infectious. What other impact will the permanent mutation of COVID-19 have? Will there eventually be a "supertype" of this virus, as the internet worries?

The original virus type is predominant in the USA and Australia

According to an article published in the journal PNAS, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK analyzed 160 coronavirus genomes from around the world and found that "the very first type of virus is mainly found in the United States and Australia, not in Wuhan." But at the same time, the article emphasizes that the evidence collected in different parts of the world at the present time does not provide a clear idea of the specific place of the original origin of the virus.

The main author of the article, academician of the Royal Society of Biology, geneticist of the University of Cambridge, Peter Forster, told the correspondent of "Huangqiu Shibao" that the purpose of this study was to map the evolution and spread of a new type of coronavirus by observing 160 virus genomes selected in the world from December last year to March this of the year.

During the analysis of the evolutionary links of COVID-19, scientists have identified three types of this virus - A, B and C. Type A, which is closest to the virus found in bats and lizards and which was transmitted to humans before anyone else, although it was found in Wuhan but has nothing to do with the type of virus that hit mainland China. Type A is mainly found in the United States and Australia. "At least two-thirds of confirmed cases in the United States are associated with this type of virus." In fact, type B was common in Wuhan, which mutated from the original type of the virus. Type C has been found in France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and other European countries, which is derived from type B. Samples of type C coronavirus have not been found in mainland China, but have been found in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and other regions.

The research report, published by the University of Cambridge, has attracted increased attention from Western academia and the media. In comments under the relevant publication of the British newspaper Metro, Internet users said that they now realized that COVID-19 is not so simple and that early claims about the "Wuhan virus" were unfair.

Forster emphasized that the new type of coronavirus mutated too quickly, so it was difficult for scientists to trace the full chain of its mutations. The researchers have now expanded the sample size to 1001 virus genomes. Despite the fact that the results of the study have not yet been published, certain patterns are already indicated. Forster acknowledged that his colleagues from other countries insisted that "the virus spreading in Western countries most likely came from Wuhan." Despite this, he was confident in the conclusions reached by his research team: “It can be stated that the earliest samples of COVID-19 found in Wuhan are of type B, and not of the original type A. Type A virus existed in Wuhan, but only in very small numbers."

Are mutated types of virus found abroad more infectious?

Why are more Type A cases of coronavirus found in the US and Australia? Forster believes that this is due to the characteristics of the genes and the immune system of local populations. In simple words, the type A virus could not adapt in Wuhan, so it mutated into a more aggressive type B. In the USA and Australia, type A found a large number of available "hosts", as a result of which it began to spread rapidly.

On April 12, director of the Institute of Virology at Wuhan University, Yang Zhanqiu, told Huangqiu Shibao that different types of viruses are spreading in different regions of the world, and that it is indeed race related. The so-called "population susceptibility to the virus" in the scientific community refers to the adaptability of the virus to the immune system of people living in a particular area. In addition, the virus adapts to the host animals and the local environment.

In a recent interview, academician Zhong Nanshan emphasized that COVID-19 very quickly adapted to the human body due to gene mutation, therefore, the intensity of its spread is relatively high. For comparison, the death rate from coronavirus is 20 times higher than from the flu, this is really worth paying extra attention to. Hence, many are worried whether carriers of mutated types of the virus who have returned from abroad are more infectious?

According to Yang Zhanqiu, mutated types of the virus found overseas can only be susceptible to locals, not Chinese, so these types are unlikely to cause an outbreak in China. In his opinion, the rapid spread of the virus, on the one hand, is associated with the number of its carriers, on the other hand, it is closely related to the mobility of people. There are now few new cases in China because the country has closed the epidemic's channels. China has adopted strict isolation measures for those returning from overseas, reducing the chances of transmission of the virus from abroad and stopping its spread. “Even if a type of virus that is common in other countries penetrates China, it will not be able to adapt. To do this, the virus must once again go through the mutation process. Thus, people in China do not need to worry about people returning from overseas bringing in even more dire strains of the virus. As long as prevention, control and isolation measures are respected, and conditions for transmission of the virus are blocked, everything will be fine."

The emergence of a "supertype" virus is unlikely

Following the continuous spread of coronavirus infection in the world, there are also fears that in the process of further spreading the virus will continue to mutate, or even a "supertype" will appear. Yang Zhanqiu explained that it is possible that new types of COVID-19 will be discovered in the future, but this will not happen immediately. When asked whether a "supertype" of the virus would eventually emerge, he replied: "Not necessarily." Because the more the virus mutates, the stronger the adaptability of people to this virus will be, accordingly, its ability to transmit will decrease, and it will not be easy to cause a pandemic. In practice, there is not a single case when the number of types would affect the strength of the virus. "But it is worth noting that if the site of the virus mutation is vulnerable, then a larger outbreak is possible," said Yang Zhangqiu.

What impact will the continuous mutation of the coronavirus have on the ongoing fight against the epidemic? According to Yang Zhanqiu, different types of the virus are closely related to its pathogenicity. For example, the type common in Italy has a higher mortality and pathogenicity, while the type common in South Korea and Japan, on the contrary, has lower rates of pathogenicity and mortality. “The severity of the disease caused by the different types is different, and the treatment methods will be different accordingly. Currently, the mutation of the coronavirus has a greater impact on vaccine production. "For example, the type of virus prevalent in China is type B. If we use the type B coronavirus vaccine to prevent infection in the area affected by the type A virus, the effectiveness will be low." This is similar to the situation of the annual mutation of the influenza virus. If you use the previous flu vaccine to stave off next year's epidemic, it won't work. Yang Zhanqiu believes that when new types of virus emerge, new vaccines need to be developed. Of course, there could theoretically be a vaccine that would be effective against all three types of virus, but this increases the difficulty of developing such a vaccine.

Relatively speaking, a mutation of a virus cannot have a large effect on drugs, since they are aimed primarily at the process of virus reproduction, while vaccines are aimed at the virus itself. Viral infection is associated with receptors. As long as the drug blocks the receptors of the virus at an early stage, infection will not occur, whatever type of virus it is.