A strain of coronavirus is thriving in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia with an express mutation that makes the virus more infectious but less deadly, according to an expert.
The variation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Covid-19 agent, is called D614G.
Paul Tambyah, principal representative of the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, said evidence suggests that the proliferation of the D614G mutation in some parts of the world has coincided with a decrease in mortality rates, suggesting that it is less fatal.
“It would possibly be smart to have a more infectious but less fatal virus,” Dr. Tambyah told Reuters.
The photo shows a graph showing the recent number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States. It shows that the number of deaths is in a downward trend recently since a peak last April, but higher cases far beyond, in mid-July. It is not known if this is due to the new strain of SARS-CoV-2, but it is possible, according to Dr. Paul Tambyah.
Cases in the UK have expanded slowly from a low in early July (pictured). Dr. Tambyah suggests that the D614G strain of coronavirus is more infectious, less deadly
Pictured is the death toll from coronavirus in the UK yesterday, 17 August. This shows a downward trend in mortality. It is not known which strain each individual dies of, however, the D614G, which is more infectious and less fatal than the original version, is dominant in the UK.
Tambyah said the maximum viruses tended to be less virulent as they mutated.
“The virus is interested in infecting more people but not killing them because a virus depends on the host to feed and take refuge,” he said.
Scientists discovered the mutation as early as February and circulated in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said.
WHO also stated that there is no evidence that the mutation leads to a more serious disease.
On Sunday, Malaysia’s director general of health, Noor Hisham Abdullah, called for increased public vigilance after the government detected the D614G mutation in two groups.
Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, of Singapore’s science, generation and research firm, said the variant had also been discovered in the city-state, that containment measures had prevented large-scale spread.
Noor Hisham of Malaysia stated that the D614G strain detected 10 times more infectious and that recently progressive vaccines would possibly not be effective in opposing this mutation.
But Tambyah and Maurer-Stroh said such mutations would not replace the virus enough to make potential vaccines less effective.
“[The) variants are almost the same and have not replaced the spaces that our immune formula sometimes recognizes, so there is no difference for developing vaccines,” Maurer-Stroh said.
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Edited through Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro Media Group