Gravediggers bury a Covid-19 victim while surrounded on January 13 by family members at Nossa Senhora Aparecida Cemetery in Manaus.
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
Researchers in Brazil warn that a new coronavirus strain spotted a few days ago could exacerbate an outbreak in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon rainforest.
Experts are prepared to deduce the increase in cases leaving the Manaus hospitals without available beds, oxygen was linked to the new strain but could not yet confirm the suspicion. Although the variant appears more transmissible, half a dozen researchers say there are not enough studies to say that it is responsible for the faster spread, and no evidence as to whether it causes a more severe form of Covid-19.
“We suspect it is more transmissible, based on data we have from the strains in the UK and South Africa,” said Felipe Naveca, a researcher at Fiocruz Amazonia who helped identify the virus’ genome. “But the Manaus variant has many more mutations than the others.”
Fiocruz on Friday confirmed a case of re-infection by a new strain: a 29-year-old woman who was first diagnosed in March and received a second diagnosis of coronavirus on December 30.
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The new variant has not yet been found in other parts of Brazil, although researchers see it only a matter of time. It was first detected in Japan in four people returning from Manaus last weekend.
Immunity doubt
Brazilian scientists have also found tribes in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Fernando Spilki, a professor of virology working on an initiative to sequence virus genomes, says there have been ‘three or four’ new variants detected in Brazil. The concern is that different sex lines show similar mutations, some of which may lead to the evasion of antibodies that humans already have against another strain.
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“They all seem to be evolving at the same time and in the same way, even if they are not directly related to each other,” he said. “It could mean we have a large number of cases, even in populations that already have immunity.”
Family members attend a funeral at Nossa Senhora Aparecida Cemetery on January 13
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
There is also no information yet on whether existing vaccines against the new strain will work. Brazil, which has not yet started vaccinating, recruited on two shots: CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech Ltd and the amplifier from AstraZeneca / Oxford. Health regulator Anvisa held a meeting on Sunday to decide on emergencies for both.
“The faster you vaccinate, the less the virus mutates,” said Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, an expert in viral molecular biology who helped sequence the genome of the virus. “You lower the chance of a virus occurring that is really worrying, which makes the disease worse.”
Vaccines
If approved by Anvisa, it would take between three and five days to deploy the vaccines to states – the government has said it plans to immunize Brazil’s 210 million people next week. The South American nation has the second most deaths and third most coronavirus infections worldwide.
For now, CoronaVac is the only shot available in the country. President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that the government’s plans to import 2 million doses of Astra amplifier from India to speed up vaccinations has been delayed for several days, the Valor Economico newspaper reported, citing a TV interview.
No oxygen
Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, collapses under the pressure of the second wave of the virus. Cases and deaths have risen to the levels last seen in May. The state began transporting patients to other countries amid reports of patients dying of asphyxia.
The health ministry said Friday it employs 2,500 healthcare professionals to help Manaus, and has received enough oxygen to support 61 premature babies who are in ICU beds in the city for the next 48 hours.
The governor of the state, Wilson Lima, said that the demand for oxygen is much higher than what was seen in 2020, shooting up to 75,000 cubic meters from 15,000 to just ten days and making the preparations useless. Amazonas still needs to transfer at least 400 patients to other countries to control the shortage, he said. Boats and trucks are expected to arrive with oxygen cylinders within the next 24 hours.
The rainy season in the Amazon rainforest, which begins in November, increases respiratory diseases, Naveca said. But experts also blame something else: the renunciation of social distance measures.
EMTs bring a patient to the 28th Agosto Hospital in Manaus on 14 January.
Photographer: Michael Dantas / AFP / Getty Images
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“Social distance and other individual protection measures were abandoned when officials relaxed rules that could resume activities,” said Bernardino Albuquerque, an expert in infectious diseases and a professor at Amazonas Federal University. “When they withdrew in December, it was too late. It was already out of control, and that’s what we’re seeing in January, too. ”
On Thursday, officials set a 7-hour curfew and suspended public transportation on roads and rivers to limit the spread of the disease. While Lima says the situation is still very serious, the local government has ruled out lockdown.
“There are restrictive measures to avoid social contact, but if measures are too extreme, it can have the opposite effect,” he said.
– With help by Martha Viotti Beck