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The Finnish coronavirus strain appears to be the most recent detection system around the world in recent months, although it is almost all similar to the British, South African, Brazilian or Japanese variants.
A new strain of coronavirus, called Fin-796H, has been identified in southern Finland, a joint study by Vita Laboratories and the Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Helsinki announced on Wednesday.
According to the Finnish laboratory, not all PCR tests approved by the World Health Organization can detect the new strain.
“Vita Laboratoriot Oy and the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki have detected a previously unknown variant of the coronavirus in a sample from Southern Finland. Mutations in this variant make it difficult to detect in at least one of the WHO-recommended PCR tests.The discovery could have a significant impact on determining the spread of the disease, the lab said in a statement.
Although the new strain of the new coronavirus contains mutations that can also be detected in the British and South African strains, it has been found to be completely different from all the previous ones.
“Its heritage has the same characteristics as the previously widespread varieties in the world, but it does not appear to belong to the lineage of any of the previously known varieties,” the statement said.
Associate Professor of Clinical Microbiology at Vita Laboratories, Sakari Jokiranta, said in a statement that a certain mutation in the strain prevented its detection by one of the WHO-approved methods.
“This was observed during the analysis of a sample of a patient with variant COVID-19 infection,” he added.
However, the researchers do not yet have information on where this mutation developed, but it is unlikely that it happened in the country, as the total number of COVID-19 cases in Finland is significantly lower than in other countries.
The resistance of the new strain to the vaccines currently in use remains unclear.
According to the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare Statistics, the number of cases of the new coronavirus increased by 548 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 51,595 of the 5.5 million citizens. The death toll for the Northern European nation stands at 723.
Nearly 240,000 Finns have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 4% of the population.