Cuando la variante Delta del coronavirus todavía tiene en jaque al mundo, otra cepa genera mayor preocupación entre los expertos. Se trata de la variante Mu, identificada por primera vez en enero de 2021 en Colombia. La razón de la alarma es que presenta mutaciones que podrían indicar un riesgo de escape inmunitario, es decir, ser resistente a las vacunas contra el Covid-19 desarrolladas y aplicadas hasta ahora.
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“Although in the end Mu already represents 14% of the cases in Chile (there is a variant situation very similar to ours), this implies that there are possibilities of entering and expanding its frequency in the country,” added the virologist. Humberto Debat, member of the Argentine Interinstitutional SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Project (PAIS).
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All viruses mutate over time. And most of those changes have some effect on the main characteristics of the virus. However, certain adjustments can especially modify its ability to spread, the severity of the disease and the effectiveness of vaccines, medications or other medications to combat it.
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The appearance in 2020 of variants that pose a greater threat according to the WHO classifies them as “of interest” or “worrying. ” That is why the organization followed the letters of the gray alphabet to designate the new variants in order to facilitate the identity of the population and stigmatize associations with the country of origin, not with China and India.
In the case of the Mu or B. 1. 621 variant, according to clinical nomenclature. “While the total of the Mu variant between consecutive instances is lately less than 0. 1%, that of Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has increased steadily,” the WHO initially said in September, igniting the alarms in Latin America. .
Según los últimos estudios publicados por la Agencia Europea de Medicamentos (EMA), la variante Mu es “potencialmente preocupante” aunque todavía no existen datos que demuestren si se volverá más predominante que la Delta.
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Aunque está centrada en la investigación de la Delta debido a su alta transmisibilidad, la EMA también está observando otras variantes que pueden propagarse rápidamente, como la Lambda (identificada en Perú) y más recientemente la Mu.
“Mu podría ser potencialmente más preocupante que la Delta porque podría mostrar un posible riesgo de inmunoevasión o resistencia a las vacunas”, advirtió el organismo.
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Actualmente, la OMS considera como variantes de preocupación (VOC) a la Delta (identificada por primera vez en India e impulsora de nuevas olas en muchos países del mundo), Alpha (detectada en Reino Unido), Beta (de Sudáfrica) y Gamma (de Manaos).
There are variants of interest (VOI) that are Mu, Eta, Iota (from California), Kappa (another from India) and Lambda (known as the Andean variant).
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variante Mu en la Argentina
Esta semana se confirmó el primer caso secuenciado de la variante Mu en la Argentina. Se trata de una mujer salteña de 33 años que se contagió a pesar de ya tener las dos dosis de la vacuna contra el Covid-19.
“The Delta variant continues to be the angels that generates the greatest concern in the world: it was the angels responsible for dramatic situations such as the health crisis in India, it spread to hundreds of countries and has brought the virus to angel circles where it entered generating new angeless waves,” as in the United States, said virologist Humberto Debat. member of the Argentine Interinstitutional SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Project (PAIS).
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In statements to Télam, the specialist explained that he was alert about what was happening with the Mu “because, as we see in previous pages, the panorama of variants in the Latin American point has had a wonderful effect in Argentina.
“Although in the end Mu already represents 14% of the instances in Chile (which have a very variable situation to ours), this implies that there are possibilities to enter our country and expand its frequency,” Debat added.
According to the most recent WHO report, “the Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that imply potential immune evasion properties. But this needs to be demonstrated by further studies. “
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In this sense, biochemist Josefina Campos, coordinator of the Anlis-Malbrán Genomics and Bioinformatics Platform, trusted that “it is complicated which variant deserves to generate greater consideration in Argentina because each person’s habit depends on many factors, including . “They interact with the variants that are circulating. “
Mariana Viegas, researcher at Conicet and coordinator of the PAIS project, “it is today that the Mu variant was detected in the month of August in specific cases in the town of Buenos Aires, in some travelers and in two or 3 cases without there being another” .
And he noted that “for the network to flow from a variant “it will have to be systematically detected over time and will have to have the threat of the population gaining it in the network, because it does not exist with Mu. “