Both cases were women in their thirties who had typical mild to moderate flu-like symptoms and did not become seriously ill or were admitted to hospital. In one case, the two identified variants have been circulating in Brazil since the beginning of the pandemic. In the other case, the person was infected simultaneously with an older strain of the virus and with the P.2 variant first identified in Rio de Janeiro.
The findings, based on the analysis of genomic sequences of 92 samples taken from the Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil, appear in the April issue of Virus Research, a scientific journal.
According to the study, co-infection increases the possibility of recombination of the genomes of the different strains, which can generate new variants of the coronavirus.
“Although there are some cases of reinfection, the possibility of co-infection by E484K adds a new factor to the complex interaction between immune response systems and SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutations,” the authors write.
The news comes when Brazil’s second wave plunges the country into crisis again. The country registered 2,233 new deaths in Covid-19 on Thursday and at least 272,889 people have died from the virus since the pandemic began.
ICUs and hospitals across the country are approaching capacity, and governors, state health secretaries and mayors are calling for more restrictive measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo, on Thursday announced new emergency measures in the richest and most populous part of Brazil.
“Brazil is collapsing,” he said in a video released just moments before a press conference on the new measures. It showed a striking contrast with the assurance given by Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello just one day earlier.
“Our health system has been greatly affected, but it has not collapsed and will not collapse,” Pazuello said on Wednesday, attributing to the increasing hospitalizations and deaths in the country “mainly to the new variant of the coronavirus. “
During the same remarks, Pazuello also lowered expectations for the vaccination campaign in Brazil, estimating that by 22 March 25 to 25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine would be available – a sharp drop from the Ministry of Health’s forecast in February. of 46 million doses.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – who himself is under fire due to the government’s handling of the pandemic – continues to drop austerity measures, putting the health of the economy at risk.
“How long will we resist the economy? If it (the economy) collapses, it’s a shame. What will we have soon? Supermarket raids, buses on fires, strikes, penguins, work stoppages,” he said on a video conference with lawmakers said. Thursday.