Two studies that would appear soon raise concerns about a new coronavirus variant that scientists in California have been monitoring.
They suggest that the variant may not only be more contagious, but that it may also be worse. The research is at a very early stage, has not yet been published or has been reviewed by a peer, and needs more work, the researchers stressed.
A team from the University of California, San Francisco, tested virus samples from recent outbreaks in California and found them to be much more common. It was not seen in any samples in September, but by the end of January it was found in half of the samples.
This variant, which the team calls B.1.427 / B.1.429, has a different pattern of mutations than the variant first seen in the United Kingdom, called B.1.1.7 and in South Africa, called B .1.351. One mutation, called L452R, affects the ear protein of the virus, which is the piece that attaches to the cells that infect the virus.
A specific mutation, the L452R mutation, in the receptor-binding domain of the peak protein, may enable the virus to bind more efficiently to cells. Our data show that it is probably the key mutation that makes this variant more contagious, “Dr. Charles Chiu, co-director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at UCSF, who led one of the studies, told CNN.
And they found evidence that it was more dangerous.
“In this study, we observed an increased severity of the disease associated with B.1.427 / B.1.429 infection, including an increased risk of high oxygen demand,” they wrote in their report, which was published later this week after a preprint server should be placed health officials in San Francisco review it.
Chiu said it should become a variant of concern, and that it should become a priority for study.
A second team at Unidos and Salud, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that is rapidly testing in the Mission District of San Francisco, tested 8,846 people during January and evaluated the virus from 630 samples. They also found a rapid increase in the variant.
“The research findings indicate that the L452R variant represents 53% of the positive test samples collected between 10 and 27 January. This is a significant increase from November when our sequence indicates that this variant makes up only 16% of the positive tests, ‘said dr. Diane Havlir, an expert in infectious diseases at UCSF, who is helping lead the study, said in a statement.
Havlir’s team is also preparing their findings for publication.