Coronavirus: New Mutating of Coronaviurs May Affect COVID-19 Vaccine Research and Development

2020-04-22

China’s latest discovery of novel coronavirus warns that Coronavirus is mutating which would discourage vaccine development.

Chinese scientists warn that the mutations of coronavirus may be underestimated by them because the latest deadliest strains control Europe and the United States.

Chinese scientists have discovered that the east coast of Europe and America has been infected with one of the most aggressive coronavirus strains because dozens of viral mutations of coronavirus have been found. Viruses destroy hosted cells faster than other cells.

A research team led by Professor Li Lanjuan of Zhejiang University in China recently pointed out in a new study that the mutating ability of novel coronavirus has been greatly underestimated. Among the 11 coronavirus patients tested and studied in Hangzhou, they found up to 33 viral mutations.

The researchers said that 60% of the strains they found were completely new to the public. And a worrisome mutation development is that the viral mutations would directly affect the lethality of coronavirus infections. The research also show that the most aggressive coronavirus mutation could produce 270 times more virus load than the least effective virus.

The study pointed out that although only these isolates from 11 patients were analyzed in this study, a rich diversity of mutations were observed, including some original mutations of those different major viral groups currently spreading globally.

The virus load refers to the amount of virus in a certain volume of body fluid (usually plasma). In particular, it shows how quickly pathogens can spread and destroy cells in organisms.

The pre-printed edition of this study published on medRxiv.org last Sunday also revealed that, for Europeans, more unfortunately, one of the most aggressive strains discovered by Chinese scientists seems to be related to the European continent, especially Similar to Italy and Spanish strains.

The same pressure came from Europe and New York which later became one of the most infected American state and city. However, the west coast of the United States appears to be infected with another, less deadly virus that was similar to what was found in China. Nonetheless, the Zhejiang University research team warned that this did not mean that people on the West Coast did not need to worry so much, because even weaker strains could cause serious illness. The researchers noticed that two observed patients in their 30s and 50s who were infected with weaker strains still had severe symptoms.

However, most importantly, Chinese scientists said that their findings may affect much-needed vaccine research and development process, because for novel coronavirus, a one-size-fits-all solution may not work.

The research team pointed out that although the development of drugs and vaccines is urgent, it is necessary to consider the impact of these accumulated mutations, especially the initial mutation, to avoid potential pitfalls.

Globally, this novel coronavirus has infected more than 2.6 million people and killed more than 183,000 people.

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