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The variant first identified in France triggers new fears and worries. So far, the researchers involved in the search seem rather relaxed.
According to initial findings, B.1.640.2 should not lead to a further exacerbation of the pandemic.
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According to an expert from the University of Basel, there is no reason to be particularly concerned about this variant.
20min / Taddeo Cerletti
Researchers have discovered a new variant of corona.
B.1.640.2 was detected in France at the end of December.
According to initial findings, it should not replace Omikron as the dominant variant.
According to experts, a new Corona variant discovered in France should be observed – but they have not yet recognized a major risk. “We should observe these as well as other variants, but there is no reason to be particularly concerned about this variant,” Richard Neher, an expert on virus variants at the University of Basel, told the dpa news agency on Tuesday. The US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding wrote on Twitter: “I’m not yet very worried about B.1.640.2. I doubt that it will prevail over Omikron or Delta. “
Variant has mutations of the spike protein
French researchers led by Didier Raoult from the IHU Méditerranée Infection Institute had demonstrated the new variant in twelve patients in south-east France, as the team wrote in a preprint paper at the end of December. The patient, who was probably infected first in France, came back from a trip from Cameroon. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a specialist journal.
As a result, Raoult’s team wrote: “It is too early to speculate about the virological, epidemiological or clinical properties of the new variant.” However, your data is another example of how unpredictable variants of the coronavirus could occur. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said “merkur.de”: “We still don’t know enough to be able to say anything useful.”
B.1.640.2 has some mutations in the so-called spike protein, which experts already know from the particularly contagious omicron variant, as Raoult and his team write. The spike protein is particularly important when evaluating variants because it is used to bind the virus to human cells and also because vaccines target this protein. Mutations in the spike protein can cause the virus to spread faster. It is also possible that vaccines lose their effectiveness.
However, B.1.640.2 does not seem to have spread much so far, says the Basel expert Neher. She is “one of many that has not prevailed against Omikron and Delta, at least so far.”
Variation does not seem dangerous
B.1.640.2 belongs to a type of variant family that has been on the radar of the World Health Organization (WHO) since November. WHO epidemiologist Abdi Mahamud referred to this in Geneva. According to WHO information, B.1.640 was first reported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September and under observation in November, but has not spread significantly since then, according to the data available, said Mahamud. “We’ll keep an eye on them.”
The WHO distinguishes three categories of potentially dangerous corona variants: (1) variants of concern, (2) variants of interest and (3) variants under observation. B.1.640 is in Category 3, as are two other variants, Omikron in Category 1. A total of 17 variants that the WHO has observed since the beginning of the pandemic have proven to be short-lived or less threatening and are no longer under special observation.
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(DPA / pme)