For several weeks now, there has been a worrying development in Tyrol: Covid-19 infections with a virus variant are increasing in which the so-called E484K mutation is present in addition to the changes that the British variant (B1.1.7) carries . There now appear to be around 1,800 such cases, of which around 800 are active. The variant occurs throughout the state. Due to this virus variant, among other things, the mandatory exit test in the Schwaz district was extended in March.
According to experts, this is a so-called “escape mutation”. Viruses with this mutation would “under certain circumstances be more difficult to neutralize by vaccine serums and also lead to reinfections more easily,” says virologist Andreas Bergthaler from the Research Center for Molecular Medicine at the Academy of Sciences on the APA.
“The combination of the original British virus variant B1.1.7 and the additional mutation E484K shows an increased infectivity and significantly more severe disease courses than the British variant B1.1.7. without E484K mutation, ”says a report published by AGES last week.
Up to 1,800 suspected cases
Preliminary data from AGES based on preliminary PCR tests had shown that the variant in the previous week, with almost 600 cases, made up around 50 percent of the cases examined for variants in Tyrol. The values determined on the basis of PCR data are now significantly higher, namely in up to 1,800 suspected cases. So far, around 350 have been identified with certainty by means of partial or whole genome analysis, said Ulrich Elling from the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology at the Academy.
Outside of Tyrol, on the other hand, there are only six records of B1.1.7 + E484K in Austria, for which there is no other more practicable scientific name. “That is why you have to look very closely in Tyrol to see how things develop,” said Bergthaler. You should also carefully analyze cases that occur in the Schwaz district, which is vaccinated per se.
“Expect further escape mutations”
The virologist does not want to make a recommendation for additional measures in Tyrol. However, the variant monitoring system as a whole has to be expanded further, because further possible escape mutations are to be expected, especially in the autumn. “The sooner you react, if it only occurs regionally, the sooner you can still try to capture it in some form,” says Bergthaler.