More than a dozen variants of Covid-19 have been registered in the country, said the academic and director of the Master in Biomedical Sciences of the UTalca, Sergio Wehinger. The researcher said that among these is Epsilon, detected in California at the beginning of the year and that it has expanded to more than 40 countries, including Spain and Japan.
Wehinger described as worrying the three mutations of this variant because they modify the structure in parts that are key to the recognition of antibodies. “It makes vaccines less effective. Antibodies cannot bind as easily to the viral protein because it has changed or hidden the site of these antibodies. It is said that – probably – this affects RNA vaccines more, since they are targeted at specific parts of the protein,” he said.
“We must remember that it does not mean that vaccines such as Pfizer or AstraZeneca have completely lost activity against the virus, they continue to produce antibodies, but against this variant they could reduce their effectiveness. It is talked about in the laboratory is about two to 6 times (less effective), depending on the type of antibody, “stressed the academic.
Regarding the infection rate, he indicated that fortunately it would be only 20% more transmissible than previous versions of Covid-19. “In Chile, 11 variants have been found to date, including Epsilon, which was detected at least since March. There is a report from the Institute of Public Health (ISP) that reports two cases in a universe of 311 studied. Subsequently, 5 cases were reported, three of them travelers, distributed between the Metropolitan Region and the Maule,” he added.
Genomic sequencing
For his part, the director of Student Health of the University of Talca, Daniel Jimenez, described as normal the appearance of variants. He said viruses mutate according to context and adapt. What is worrying, he said, is that some are more contagious, as is the case with Delta, or that they have a lower response to some types of vaccines, as would happen with the Epsilon variant.
The epidemiologist indicated that testing, traceability and isolation is fundamental as a strategy for controlling variants. “It is also important to strengthen genomic sequencing, since it allows us to detect if a person is infected by a certain variant. Obviously, obtaining this information allows us to make decisions before the person, especially isolation or concentrate on the search for the traceability of their close contacts, in order to avoid community circulation, “emphasized the teacher.
Jimenez stressed that it is important for the control of the entry of variants, to properly close the country’s borders. He added that today these variants of concern, due to their characteristics, are a direct threat to hospital occupancy, which reaches approximately 94%.
