The flights have been suspended, yet again. But this time, it’s a mutant virus, a newer version of the existing coronavirus.
There are a lot of questions in everyone’s mind, so let’s start one by one.
Dr Dad on a quick telephonic conversation with Dr. Gaurav Nigam, MD, put forward the following questions and now it is here for you to read.
Q.Is this new variant a new virus?
A. No, the new variant is a mutated version of the existing virus, also being called as B.1.1.7.
Q.Why do mutations occur?
A. Mutations occur as the virus replicates. Sometimes in the cycle of virus spread, certain sequences get changed in the virus and that’s called a mutation.
Q.What is the difference between the mutant virus and the old SARS COV2?
A. The newly mutated virus has few mutations. Around 23 of them. Whereas most of them were either damaging to the virus, but they also pointed towards how the virus may spread.
Q.Does this mean this virus will spread more easily?
A. As not much data is yet available but what different agencies are telling, according to them, this virus is much more transmissible than the older virus. It is spreading rapidly in southern England. Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, estimates that the variant has an increased transmission rate of 50 to 70 percent compared with other variants in the United Kingdom.
Q.Does this virus cause severe symptoms and disease?
A. So far the studies have not pointed out the disease being more severe than the infection from sars cov 2.
Q.What is the origin of this new variant?
A. As the virus infects the host, the immune system starts clearing the virus. But, in some immunocompromised patients, the virus lives for a longer time and thus replicating for a longer duration. During this duration, there are high chances for the virus to undergo mutation.
There’s also a theory that when the virus infects certain animals like minks etc, they act as a reservoir for the virus and that might also help in the mutation.
Q.What about the existing vaccine? Will it not be effective anymore?
A. The answer to this is most likely No. As the immune system makes protein against the antigen when it is introduced through the vaccine, the antibodies that are made should ideally take care of the newer variation as well.
Though this is too early to say anything with 100 % certainty most experts are saying that the current vaccines should be more or less effective.
This being a new mutation, scientists all over the world are trying to study it and gather the information that might be useful for further advances.
For the time being: the traditional precautions of handwashing, social distancing, and wearing masks is definitely a winner.
