The UK and South African Covid-19 variants are cause for vigilance, not panic | Julian Tang

Even a partially protective vaccine may reduce the risk of more severe illness. But that doesn ’t mean we can let our guard downJulian Tang is a clinical virologist and honorary associate professor at the University of LeicesterCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt ’s hard to believe, but Covid-19 has been with us formore than a year, and like the rest of us, it is beginning to adapt. It isn ’t unique in this regard – we know that viruses mutate all the time as they make mistakes during replication. Once a virus has entered a human host, it needs to find the right cell type in which it can replicate. During this process, it is exposed to human immune responses that exert pressure on it in various ways, causing mutations to develop. This often occurs in parts of the virus that are most exposed to the immune system, such as the outer protein. In the case of Covid-19, this is thespike protein that binds it to host cells, allowing the virus to enter and replicate.The UK variant initially appeared last autumn in Kent with a mutation in the spike protein, along with a couple of amino acid deletions. This appeared to be more transmissible, but not any more clinically severe, and was later foundnot to impact significantly on the effectiveness of our then main Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Shortly after, we heard about the emergence of a new variant that contained a different pattern of mutations in the spike protein, which appeared to be spreading quickl...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Science South Africa Brazil UK news Source Type: news