hey guys welcome to another video the sars cov2 virus has incurred mutations so what does that
mean for you genetic variants of covid 19 are expected as viruses mutate all the time
coronaviruses mutate slower than most rna viruses with an average rate of two nucleotide changes per
month a random mutation may make a virus more fit leading to an evolutionary advantage as in
what happens with natural selection survival of the fittest from the viruses standpoint
or the mutation could have no impact on its survival but eventually a viral variant that
does have an evolutionary advantage will become the dominant form of the virus worldwide there are
12 key clades or variants of the stars cov2 virus sometimes the increased spread of a viral variant
can only be attributed to chance if a virus with a new mutation is carried by a super spreader
moves to a new uninfected location or is introduced to a new segment of the population
its rate of spread will increase the uk variant has become the dominant variant in multiple
regions of the world which means it's less likely a coincidence each time scientists identify a
new variant it raises the questions does the mutation increase the viral transmission rate
meaning is it more contagious does it cause more severe disease and will the current vaccines or
previous infection still provide protection until last week scientists felt variants
discovered in the uk south africa and brazil were more infectious but not more deadly
so are variants unexpected viruses can be sloppy with their replication process
proofreading to ensure that there are minimal errors in the genetic code it takes time
organisms usually reproduce slowly and with fewer errors or reproduce quickly and make more errors
multiple variants of a virus with slight changes in the genetic code are then replicating an
environment that encourages survival of the fittest so viral variants that are more deadly
or more transmissible win out over those with a lower ability to survive and flourish the only
way to slow the development of new viral variants is to hinder their ability to replicate now the
best way to slow the replication process from a bird's eye perspective is through vaccination
achieving herd immunity by vaccinating 80 percent of the population is what will get this done
now let's talk about the importance of sequencing countries across the globe must
sample and sequence the genomes of local cases of covid 19 infections sequencing or determining
the genetic code of the virus it varies among different countries so countries like denmark are
sequencing every infection in the united states sequencing is done on 0.3 percent of infections
which ranks 43rd in the world but this is changing with the new administration in place
the covid 19 strain called b117 identified in the uk it spread across the country with studies
out of london suggesting that the uk variant is 55 more infectious which raised the reproduction rate
and measurement of how contagious an infectious disease is to an estimated range of 1.5 to 1.7
and that's what prompted the lockdowns in london now that reproduction rate since
has decreased to 0.8 to 1.0 the prevalence of the uk variant has essentially doubled which means
more infections more deaths more long haulers the uk viral variant has been identified in canada in
20 states in the united states scientists so far are not sure how the new viral variant increases
its infectivity one possibility is that people who are infected with the new variant
may shed more virus higher viral loads in the nose can increase the infection risk when an infected
droplet lands on your eyes mouth or nose another possibility is that the new variants increase the
time that someone sheds the virus making them contagious for a longer amount of time another
possibility is that the virus is more stable in the environment but the most likely explanation
is that it binds better to the ace2 receptor and so far this is what the evidence is suggesting
in the uk pcr tests can distinguish the new variant the b117 from the old variant
mathematicians compared the death rates between those who've died from the old variant in the new
and this analysis led to a statement that the new variant besides being more contagious may also be
more deadly the new and emerging virus threats advisory group says that there's a realistic
possibility that the virus had become more deadly but this was far from certain they report that
there are hints that the uk variant is 30 more deadly raising the deaths per 1000 people from
one percent to 1.3 percent both the pfizer and oxford astrazeneca vaccines are expected to work
against the uk variant as there is no biologically significant difference in neutralization activity
based on the evidence so far mutations in the spike protein can weaken the expected
antibody response after an infection with a previous variant of the stars cov2 virus or
vaccination when the immune system is first exposed to the viral antigen by means of
either an infection or the vaccine it activates a response from both arms of the immune system
producing antibodies and the cellular response so memory cells within the immune system are held in
reserve to mount a quicker and more substantial immune response in order to neutralize a repeat
infection in the laboratory the pfizer vaccine has demonstrated the ability to neutralize
the n501y mutation found in the uk variant to test whether antibodies in the blood of people
who've been vaccinated can neutralize a viral infection from the mutated virus
researchers collected blood from participants in the pfizer vaccine trial the blood samples were
combined with samples of the mutant virus the sample is allowed to sit for an hour so and the
solution is then placed on host cells to determine what percentage of host cells are infected this
test is called a neutralization assay and it can test whether people who previously had sars cov2
infection or who have been vaccinated who have the antibodies that will fight the infection from the
viral variant now moderna recently announced that their vaccine is expected to be protective against
the emerging strains of coronavirus detected so far but out of an abundance of caution they're
going to test the booster shots the south african variant 501y v2 also called the b1351
has multiple mutations in the spike protein it's led to fast growing epidemic in the eastern cape
province and spread across south africa into other countries this variant is expected to be
50 percent more infectious than the previous ones so this south african variant has eight
mutations in the spike protein and these mutations allow it to bind more tightly to the h2 receptor
a second more concerning mutation in the south africa variant may enable it to escape
from some antibodies that are produced as a result of the vaccine or previous infection
and this of course raises the concern for possible less efficacy with these vaccines so
again researchers use the neutralization assay test to determine if antibodies and serum from
people who recovered from covid 19 can they neutralize an infection from this south africa
variant they found the antibodies were much worse at neutralizing the infection several people
have been reinfected in south africa supporting the conclusion that antibodies from a previous
infection may not fully protect against the new variant now when researchers tested the pfizer in
modern vaccines against the south africa variant there was a modest drop in the vaccine's ability
to generate neutralizing antibodies but so far it looks like the vaccines are still effective
the brazil variant called p1 contains 17 unique mutations including three that are in the spike
proteins receptor binding domain so these mutations are expected to increase the viruses
transmissibility the variant from brazil is similar to the variant from south africa with its
n501y and its e484k mutations the brazil variant also includes a mutation that could make the
vaccine less effective against it monoclonal antibodies are directed towards a very specific
antigen that's part of the virus so there's the potential that these
monoclonal antibodies may not be as effective against the south african and brazil variants
besides getting the vaccine and masking up and distancing and hand washing
what can you do to prevent getting covid including with these new variants
last summer i made a video detailing how the stars cov2 virus is often spread by the airborne route
around that same time i made another video on the best way to prevent getting the virus into
your lungs and that is with an n95 mask other than avoiding people entirely so the n95 mask
is as close as you can come to a guarantee that you won't inhale the virus it's also super cheap
but the main downside is that it's uncomfortable to wear and it can obstruct the flow of air when
you're breathing in and out so it can hamper your breathing even though the cdc has said it should
not be used by the general public there are a lot of doctors who think otherwise my take on this is
that it should be used for people who are in high risk situations like crowded spaces especially
when other people aren't wearing masks and especially when there's poor room air
circulation now i myself i've used an n95 in these situations for example when i traveled on a plane
i would use an n95 so if you want more details on that you can go out and check out these videos
people who've already had covid 19 are likely to have 83 protection against new
infections for at least five months but there is accumulating evidence that they'll continue
to spread the virus data from a uk study showed that 44 out of 6 614 people had a re-infection
with covid 19. so these results are reassuring for people who've been infected or vaccinated
knowing that previously vaccinated or infected people can still spread the infection underlines
the importance of continued masking and distancing for everyone until herd immunity is achieved
now watching how the uk had their viral spread under control in december and then all fell apart
when the new variant increased transmissibility leading to increased cases hospitalizations and
deaths that's a warning to other countries such as the united states that another surge may
occur with the new variant when that becomes the dominant strain so far the antibodies produced by
the mrna vaccines by pfizer and moderna they have demonstrated effectiveness against the uk variant
if the need arises it is very possible to change the vaccine's mrna sequence
and quickly produce a vaccine that's directed towards the new variants pfizer recently said that
they're laying the groundwork to create a vaccine booster that could respond to coronavirus variants
if it's needed and moderna is doing the same so that's all for this video thank you for watching
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