Is There a New Strain of Coronavirus We Should Worry About?

A study that analyzed the real-time mutation in SARS-CoV-2 or the novel coronavirus recently made headlines, causing debates among experts. The research shows that there is a possibility that a mutation would make the virus more contagious.

The paper is from scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The authors of the paper say that there is an urgent concern about the new strain that has become more prevalent. They warned about a mutation affecting the "spikes" on the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

This paper immediately raised debates among experts. There were questions posed related to the data and what these data reveal.

Experts also wonder if there are other reasons that there is a more dominant strain of the virus.

A new strain is not certainly a more infectious one

The "spikes" of the virus under a microscope are what make people sick. The spikes are used by the virus to attach to cells. In the study, researchers found that the spikes are mutating or changing.

Kirsten Hokeness is an expert in immunology, virology, and microbiology from Bryant University. She said, "the spike plays an important role in the life cycle of the virus in humans. Without it, we would not get infected." Hokeness is not affiliated with the study.

According to another expert from Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, Frank Esper (who is also not affiliated with the study), the spike-protein mutation is more prevalent because it originated in China.

Esper added that the strain might be more "stable," but it does not necessarily mean that it has become more contagious.

Both experts, Hokeness and Esper, think that the study is far from its claims. According to Hokeness, the literature of the research does not suggest anything about the mutated strain being worse. It does not clearly indicate rates of increasing infection rate, hospitalization, or even deaths. Hokeness added that it warrants further investigation, contrary to the suggestion of the authors that the result is something of 'urgent' concern.

A New strain from virus mutation is normal

Experts say that viruses can replicate in massive amounts, and this could happen quickly.

The explanation to this, according to Hokeness, is that rapid rates of replication can cause errors. The errors get passed to new viruses, which later on get replicated as well. This replication can result in minor mutations in the original form.

Hokeness also explained that the SARS-CoV-2 might seem like a "new lineage of a virus" because it is such a small change. She added that it is likely that the jumping capability of the novel coronavirus has been perfected. Considering that the virus initially jumped from bats to humans, it may have changed its structure to infect more people easily.

Experts also reiterated that despite the changes, the coronavirus appears to be more stable, making it less prone to mutation.

Because of this, specialists believe that the stability seen in the virus is a good thing as this will help in finding an effective vaccine in the future.