The Sars-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate. As proof: the English variant, also called "B.1.1.7", would begin to acquire the most disturbing mutation of the South African and Brazilian variants of the coronavirus, called E484K. This was revealed by Public Health England in a report published on January 14 and updated on January 26. "The mutation of the E484K protein, found in the South African (VOC 202012/02 B1.351) and Brazilian (VOC 202101/02 P1) variants was detected in the sequences of 11 viruses of the B1.1.7 lineage. preliminary information suggests several independent appearances ", can one read in the report of the British public health agency.
Covid-19: why is this mutation of the English variant worrying?
This mutation is present in the Spike protein of the coronavirus, which causes the infection. According to a study carried out by a team of researchers in Seattle, the results of which were published on January 4 in BioRxiv, the E484K variation would promote the resistance of the virus to the antibodies developed by infected patients. This would complicate its neutralization. Scientists found that antibodies could be ten times less sensitive to the virus, due to the E484K mutation. Clearly, people who have contracted Covid-19 could be less immune to the mutation of the English variant than against a strain that does not have this variation.
Cambridge University professor of microbiology Ravi Gupta says this mutation is "most disturbing of all". "Overall, E484K dramatically increases the amount of antibodies needed to prevent infection of cells. (…) The number of cases may be higher given the high rate of transmission. We must continue. to vaccinate and reduce transmission ", at tweeted the professor this February 2.
The Institut Pasteur virologist, Björn Meyer, was reassuring. "Viruses are complex, better cell adhesion does not necessarily mean a better virus", he declared to HuffPost. The researcher also recalled that the South African variant, which has both the E484K mutation and the N501Y mutation, "would be 40% more contagious, according to preliminary analyzes". A rate similar to that of the English variant or B.1.1.7.
Are Covid-19 vaccines effective against this mutation of the English variant?
In a press release published on January 8, the BioNTech laboratory assured that its vaccine against Covid-19, developed with the pharmaceutical group Pfizer, was effective against the English and South African variants of the virus. According to a press release from Moderna on January 25, the first tests suggested that the antibodies triggered by its vaccine could recognize and fight new variants of the virus. But, for the moment, it is not known whether these vaccines work against the E484K mutation of the English variant.
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