MANILA, Philippines – A mutated strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in the Philippines that is believed to be more infectious than the original coronavirus variant for COVID-19.
“In June, both D614 and G614 were detected in a small pattern of positive cases,” said the Philippine Genome Center, which performed a total genome and targeted sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the Philippines as a component of the test. validation of the evolved RT-PCR kit.
This mutation adjusts the amino acid to position 614, from D (aspartic acid) to G (glycine), hence the name of the D614G mutation. This than the original D614 is now the G614 variant.
In a July study published in the clinical journal Cell, experts found that patients inflamed with the G614 variant had a higher viral load than those inflamed with D614, but it does not appear to be more lethal and does not appear to be increasing. disease. gravity.
“However, there is still no definitive evidence that carriers of the G614 variant are in fact more transmissible than those with D614, and the mutation also does not appear to have substantially clinical results,” explained the Philippine Genome Center.
However, the study medium pointed out that given the spread of G614, the continuous monitoring of this mutation, as well as other observed mutations, “must be carried out to better perceive the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 to gently spill over the containment, diagnosis and healing strategies “.
The Philippines reported 3,420 new instances of COVID-19 on Sunday and a one-day record accumulation of 40,397 recoveries, bringing their respective totals to 161,253 and 112,586.
Meanwhile, another 2,665 people have died from the respiratory disease so far across the country, just seven months since it was first reported in the country.
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