Researchers are tracking the rise of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in South Africa which is the major cause of COVID-19. The new variant of coronavirus is having a huge number of mutations that are not found in other variants. It is also having all the mutations included in the delta and it is quickly spreading across South Africa. Now it is our top priority to get the complete details and a closer look at the new variant as it is continuously spreading.
This variant of the coronavirus was first identified in Botswana and it is confirmed that all the travelers arriving in Hong Kong from South Africa are having positive results. Scientists are trying very hard to properly understand the properties of the variant. The most important question that remains is that can it evade the immune responses which are being triggered by the vaccines. It is unclear that it can cause more or less severity of diseases compared to other variants available.
A virologist at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg named penny more said that spreading like a warp speed in South Africa. The new variant is being tested in the lab and it is showing that it is having the potential for completely dodging the immunity from vaccines or any kind of previous infections. Even though there are several reports of reinfections even in the vaccinated individuals are rising it is still early to speculate anything without the proper information.
Two different cases of omicron variant of coronavirus are being detected in India. Both of them are male patients and from Karnataka and have few mild symptoms. The symptoms include night sweats, the dry cough got my fever, and a lot of body pains. World Health Organization has designated this particular strain as B.1.1.529 which is commonly known as omicron. It has also joined the list of other major variants such as delta, beta, alpha and, gamma.
All the researchers who are involved in measuring the potential for the confirmation that it is most likely to contribute towards the infection with the ongoing rise done by the Delta variant.
Researchers have confirmed that the new variant is being spotted in genome sequencing data from Botswana. The new variant is continuously evolving as it is containing 30 changes to the spike protein. The protein easily recognizes the host cells and targets the immune response of the human body. It is also having major changes which are also found in the variants like alpha and delta. It is a completely high infectivity rate and has the proper ability for avoiding infection-blocking antibodies.
It is also found that there is a swift rising of the variant in different parts of South Africa which is raising the concern of another global pandemic wave. All the new variant cases are rising rapidly are mostly among young people who are visiting the school. A bioinformatician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Tulio de Oliveira has found through the research on the new variant as they are responsible for all the collected 77 virus samples which are being analyzed.
Each sample is being collected between 12th and 20th November. Hundreds of samples are being analyzed for getting a clear understanding of the new variant of the coronavirus. It is having a special kind of spike mutation that can only be detected by the genotyping test. It can only get the result after rapidly sequencing the genome. According to various evidence and reports, the coronavirus has spread further to other countries as well.
To properly understand the threat of omicron coronavirus variants possessing researchers trying hard to track down the complete spreading in South Africa and other countries. Much like the proper tracking down of beta variant they are giving a similar effect to study the new variant for proper understanding. Researchers are properly studying and tests are done for checking out the ability of the virus spot evading infection blocking antibodies.
They are also checking that what is the change is being done by the virus to other immune responses. This particular variant is having a high number of mutations in the various regions of spike protein which the antibody recognizes stop due to this the proper identification is cannot be done which is why it is one of the unique variants of coronavirus. It is expected to get the first results within two weeks of test and research to get a clear idea of the new variant of the coronavirus.
