3 ms·

Is this just one of the hundreds of variants that have been found so far but do not spread widely, or is there some reason to believe this variant is more easil

Is this just one of the hundreds of variants that have been found so far but do not spread widely, or is there some reason to believe this variant is more easily spread and will become common?

dragontamer 6y ago
This is one of the first variants that avoids our current plan of defense: antibody plasma. At a minimum, it means that treating COVDID19 may require further tests to see if we have COVID19, or... what probably will be called COVID20 or COVID21 (for 2020 or 2021, depending on when we want to pin the "origin date" of this virus variant). I'm assuming COVID20 in my ignorance... If COVID19 treatment doesn't work, doctors will then have to try COVID20 treatment. -------------- It really depends on how much COVID20 has mutated compared to COVID19, as well as how effective Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZenica, and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines are against COVID20. They've only been tested against COVID19 (the 2019 variant). We'll have to run tests to see if our defenses are good enough for COVID20, or if we have to start the vaccine race all over again.
jupp0r 6y ago
This one is spreading more widely in South Africa and has also been found in other countries already. It has an advantage in populations that have prior immunity from natural infection.
kube-system 6y ago
> . In South Africa, genomic data highlighted that the 501Y.V2 variant rapidly displaced other lineages circulating, and preliminary studies suggest the variant is associated with a higher viral load, which may suggest potential for increased transmissibility; however, this, as well as other factors that influence transmissibility, are subject of further investigation. > As of 30 December, the 501Y.V2 variant from South Africa has been reported from four other countries to date. https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-variants/en/ https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-varia...
bjornsing 6y ago
> is there some reason to believe this variant is more easily spread and will become common? Yes, there are two reasons: increasing natural immunity and vaccinations.

Is this just one of the hundreds of variants that have been found so far but do not spread widely, or is there some reason to believe this variant is more easily spread and will become common?

dragontamer 6y ago

This is one of the first variants that avoids our current plan of defense: antibody plasma. At a minimum, it means that treating COVDID19 may require further tests to see if we have COVID19, or... what probably will be called COVID20 or COVID21 (for 2020 or 2021, depending on when we want to pin the "origin date" of this virus variant). I'm assuming COVID20 in my ignorance... If COVID19 treatment doesn't work, doctors will then have to try COVID20 treatment. -------------- It really depends on how much COVID20 has mutated compared to COVID19, as well as how effective Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZenica, and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines are against COVID20. They've only been tested against COVID19 (the 2019 variant). We'll have to run tests to see if our defenses are good enough for COVID20, or if we have to start the vaccine race all over again.

jupp0r 6y ago

This one is spreading more widely in South Africa and has also been found in other countries already. It has an advantage in populations that have prior immunity from natural infection.

kube-system 6y ago

> . In South Africa, genomic data highlighted that the 501Y.V2 variant rapidly displaced other lineages circulating, and preliminary studies suggest the variant is associated with a higher viral load, which may suggest potential for increased transmissibility; however, this, as well as other factors that influence transmissibility, are subject of further investigation. > As of 30 December, the 501Y.V2 variant from South Africa has been reported from four other countries to date. https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-variants/en/ https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-varia...

bjornsing 6y ago

> is there some reason to believe this variant is more easily spread and will become common? Yes, there are two reasons: increasing natural immunity and vaccinations.