The new coronavirus variant is called “the most mutated so far” and may be more contagious and evasive vaccine, The scientist warned.
C.1.2 The strain was first in South Africa May, and related to “increased infectiousness”.
According to experts from the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the mutation rate of this strain is about 41.8 per year.
In their report published in the journal Nature, the researchers tracked the genome of the strain in South Africa this year.
It showed short-term steady growth, jumping from 0.2% in May to 2% in July.
This is similar to the increase seen in Alpha, Beta, and Gamma variants.
The scientists added that more research is needed to evaluate the impact of these mutations, but the scientists warn that this “substantial” mutant variant can help the virus avoid our immune response.
The scientists wrote: “We have described and characterized a newly discovered SARS-CoV-2 lineage, which has several spike mutations, which is likely to appear in a major metropolitan area in South Africa after the first wave of epidemics, and then spread to Multiple locations in two adjacent provinces.
“We show that this pedigree is rapidly expanding and dominating in the three provinces, while the number of infections is picking up rapidly.
“Although the full input of the mutation is unclear, genomic and epidemiological data indicate that this mutation has selective advantages-from increased transmission, immune escape, or both.
“These data highlight the urgent need to refocus South Africa’s public health response to reduce transmission to a low level, not only to reduce hospitalization and deaths, but to limit the spread of this lineage and the further evolution of the virus. “
Public Health England stated that the C.1.2 strain is one of ten variants monitored by British scientists.
