Although we sometimes act as if it is no longer with us, the virus that causes COVID-19 He never left. It is still present, mutating and giving rise to new variants. Fortunately, the immunity we already have from past infections and, above all, from vaccines, helps ensure that its severity will not be the same as in the early days of the pandemic. But it’s possible that some new variants will be able to avoid this. acquired immunity that it brought us so much benefit. For this reason, epidemiologists around the world remain very careful about the virus, especially its variants known as Flirtwho have been talking a lot lately.
This is a group of very recent variants that is causing a very high percentage of new infections in countries such as UK or USA. In Spain, at least for now, there is no evidence of variants arriving, but there are in other Mediterranean countries such as Italy.
Experts suggest they could become the predominant variants this summer and suspect they may be much more resistant to vaccine immunity than previous variants. Despite this, they also do call for calmbecause all current data is very preliminary and there is no evidence that they are more dangerous than other variants of the COVID-19 virus.
What do we know about FLiRT variants?
Viruses cannot survive without infecting. To create copies of themselves, they need replication machine that they don’t have. In this way, they capture cells that they infect. Once there, they can make many copies in a process that can make mistakes. These errors, known as mutations, can be positive, negative or neutral for the virus. That is, they can give him some new ability suitable for continuing infection. This is, for example, the ability to evade the immune system. It would be negative if it were harmful to him, reducing his ability to become infected or even preventing it. And finally, it is neutral if it causes neither positive nor negative changes.
These errors may lead to an improvement in its ability to replicate, this time with mutations included. This is how new options are generated.
SARS-CoV 2, which causes COVID-19, is RNA viruses, which mutate the most. Therefore, it is not surprising that many variations have been created since it entered our lives. The last ones to be observed by experts are the so-called Flirt. This name comes precisely from the mutations it contains. Amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, are designated by capital letters. In the case of these variants, amino acid F is replaced by L, and amino acid R by T.
Two countries that have issued a major alert about these variants are the UK and the US. In the first case, it is assumed that this led to an increase twenty one% number of Covid-19 cases in just one week. Moreover, it was in 25% of viruses have been sequenced in the country in the last two weeks of April. In the US, it was found in 28.2% of COVID-19 cases sequenced in the two weeks ending May 11.
Is it more serious?
The fact that these two countries are seeing an increase in incidence makes us think that the FLiRT variants have a greater effect. infectivity for some reason. In particular, a preprint study conducted by Japanese scientists notes that it seems to elude immunity acquired from vaccines and previous infections. But we must remember that while this study is preprint, it has not been peer reviewed. This process helps confirm that the investigation was conducted correctly, so the results of an investigation that has not yet been reviewed should be treated with caution.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that, according to experts at Johns Hopkins Hospital, these variants are not so different from those that have dominated the past year. This is why people recently infected with COVID-19 will have reasonable protection from the virus. The same is true for those who received the vaccine with Latest updates.
In any case, there does not appear to be a higher mortality rate or more severe symptoms. So even if there were a new wave in the northern hemisphere this summer, it probably wouldn’t be very serious.
Why does COVID-19 return in the summer?
We are used to respiratory viruses continuing seasonal cycles. They reach a greater peak in winter and almost disappear in summer. However, this does not appear to be the case with Covid-19. Every year since the start of the pandemic, there have been waves or surges in the summer. It’s true what we do more outdoor activities and it is always better to prevent a respiratory virus. However, it doesn’t seem like heat is very harmful to SARS-CoV 2. We’ll have to see how it behaves with the FLiRT variants. So far, it seems that spring is not bad for him at all. Experts will remain on standby while health authorities examine what appropriate measures need to be taken. We will be careful, but without panic.
Source: Hiper Textual
