What we know about the mutated cousin of the English variant

In early 2021, UK health authorities detected a new mutation in protein S from the English variant (B.1.1.7). The mentioned mutation, E484K / Q, is present in several worrisome variants of Coronavirus, and it gives rise to it resistance Increased to Antibody Equations.

After discovering it, What is the alternative The improved English, called VOC 20I / 484K-Q, was kinda quiet. Until May 21, when Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency announced that it was the origin of a cluster of about fifty cases north of Bordeaux, in the Bacalan region.

An English version in Bordeaux

Most of those infected are young, unvaccinated and have developed a mild form of Lactobacillus Covid-19 It does not require hospitalization. According to the first elements of the survey aimed at tracing the origins of this group, people – parents and children – were enrolled in the same school.

These are not the first cases due to the 20I / 484K-Q variant identified in France. Report from Public Health France (PDF to Download here), Posted on April 21, 2021, notes that the surveys flash On March 16 and 30, about ten sequences belonging to the 2OI / 484K-Q variant were discovered in Ile-de-France, Brittany and Huts de France. The origin of these cases cannot be determined.

To reduce the prevalence of this variable that is still poorly understood and may be more contagious, approximately 19,000 doses of Serum Moderna was launched to vaccinate the Bacalan region, including the unqualified. According to Agence France-Presse, this The vaccine A timer must come out of the ground in a few days to inspect and vaccinate 8,000 neighborhood residents.

The English variant has a new boom

Article published February 3, 2021 by Julie Kern

British scientists discovered a new mutation in protein S from the English variant of SARS-CoV-2. The latter, which is found in the South African and Brazilian variants, could allow it to get rid of the vaccine antibodies.

The British public health authorities are closely monitoring an evolution English language variable SARS-CoV-2, also called B.1.1.7 VOC 20 2012/01. they Latest report, Which was updated January 26, 2021, indicates that the English variant has a new mutation in the S protein sequence. Database COG-UK. The latter includes more than 200,000 gene sequences of the English variant, and the mutation is found in eleven of these sequences.

E484K, the new mutation of the English variant

The mutation in question is well known to scientists, it is the replacement for E484K (A. Lysine Replace prof Glutamic acid At position 484) is observed in the South African and Brazilian variants. With the latter, the English variant Door Nine different mutations, In S. protein alone if N501Y allowed virus To spread more easily, E484K would allow it to escape the neutralizing antibody.

In fact, a recent study indicated that the existence of E484K mutation It decreased by ten times the equivalent capacity of antibodies obtained from the serum of patients who had been infected with Covid-19. Moderna experiments, which tested the equivalent ability of antibodies produced by the mRNA-1273 vaccine, confirm this observation, as their effectiveness against the South African variant is six times less than the other variants.

Pfizer And the modern They tested the efficacy of their vaccine against the English variant, and the combined results showed no discernible differences, but the S protein used in these trials did not carry the E484K mutation. I’m not sure it’s identical to the English variants carrying the new mutation.