RIO – A mutation in the delta variant of the coronavirus known as AY.33 has been identified in Belém, Pará, the City Health Department (CSMA) has reported. The strain is present in more than 20 countries, but studies still lack the degree of transmissibility, says one expert.
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AY.33 was discovered after sequencing 116 SARS-Cov-2 virus samples obtained from patients in Belém do Pará by the Department of Health Surveillance, in partnership with the Laboratory of Human and Medical Genetics at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the Federal University of Pará.
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The Secretariat did not disclose the origin of the confirmed case of AY.33 in the capital of Para. Recent studies show that the variant likely originated in Belgium or North Africa, where it could have spread to more than 25 countries. However, the degree of transmission of the strain is still unknown.
Mutations come up all the time, but to understand if they’re worrisome, we need to think about a few things in comparison to delta: if they’re more transmissible, if they cause more serious diseases, if they escape vaccines or the body’s defenses, and if they don’t interact with monoclonal antibody therapy [medicamentos produzidos em laboratórios que mimetizam a ação dos anticorpos produzidos pelo corpo humano] – explains Salmo Raskin, head of the scientific division of genetics at the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics. “Most variants don’t do any of these things.
A statement published by the Belem News Agency said the variant “may not be detected by rapid tests and standard RT-qPCR protocols.” However, Raskin tells GLOBO that potential problems do not affect the diagnosis.
According to Raskin, recent studies show that AY.33 has many mutations outside of the spike protein. The geneticist also explains that some of them may cause a “misunderstanding” in the results of coronavirus sequencing tests, which are performed exclusively for research purposes, but do not affect the detection of the virus.
– It’s not that [os testes que nós temos] They won’t discover this new variant,” he told Globo. “What could happen is that it doesn’t define the variable correctly.
The geneticist explains that test reagents produced around the world have been developed to stick to the region of coronavirus genetic material precisely where mutations occur, but that this does not generate a “false-negative” diagnosis of coronavirus, based on a PCR-type assay, for example.
The specialist advocates that AY.33 should be monitored in Belem, but does not see a significant danger to the country, because the alternative has not caused new waves of pollution in the countries where it is located. Even in the UK, where cases surged again this month after peaking in July, cases are linked to the AY.4.2 variant, also known as Delta plus, which already accounts for 10% of new cases in England.
