Information About New Covid 19 Strain In The UK "Sick Man Of Europe"

 Information About New Covid 19 Strain In The UK "Sick Man Of Europe"

Many centuries ago there was a time when Britain was known as the "The Great British Empire where the sun never sets.", but today the situation has changed and Britain has received a new title of "Sick Man of Europe".

The whole world is moving away from the UK. All flights are canceled. Every country is trying to stop or avoid contacting people in any way. Because a new strain of coronavirus has been found which is more transmissible than normal coronavirus.

As UK's Prime minister Borris Johnson said that this new coronavirus strain is 70% more transmissible than normal covid 19. 

You already heard or read these things in many articles but as we heard about this new strain of COVID 19 so many questions arise in our mind like Is it deadlier than the previous one? Or will this strain more harm to the human body? Are other variants of covid 19 available? What is this Covid 19 strain? Why do viruses mutate? How harmful is this strain? What is the effect on the vaccine? Does the vaccine work or not? These things are very important to know.

So, with this article, I will help you answer these questions.

Why in the news?

• The reason is all major countries have banned UK travel over Covid concerns.

• India has suspended all flights to the UK until 31st December, citing the rapid spread and development of a new variant of SARS-COV 2.

• Canada bans all flights from the UK for 72 hours.

• Germany has cut off all air services with the UK since midnight Sunday, with the ban originally supposed to last until 31st December.

• Israel said it bans entry to foreign nationals leaving the UK, Denmark, and South Africa.

• The new variants showed that this was due to a rapid increase in Covid 19 cases in the South and East England.

• It appears like this strain of the virus may spread faster, leading to an increase in the number of cases.

What is the covid 19 mutant strain?

• The new UK variant of Covid 19 strain is known as VUI-2020I2 / 0I (the first variant under consideration "in December 2020), defined by a series of 17 changes or mutations. 

• It is also being referred to as the B.1.1.7 lineage.

• It was first identified in the country of Kent in September 2020. 

• The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, first announced the existence of this mutant variant on 14 December; it was subsequently confirmed by the Public health England and the UK’s Covid 19 sequencing consortium.

• The variant is the result of:

• Multiple mutations in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-COV-2 and

• Mutations in other genomics regions of the RNA virus.

• One of the mutations identified as N501Y, in an area of spike protein that binds to the ACE2 receptor, a key protein in the human cell.

• Scientists and researchers say the new strain is more infectious than previously circulating variants.

• This was a sign that the changes could lead to the virus becoming more infectious.

Why do viruses mutate?

• Mutation simply means a difference, a change in the genome.
• Mutations are a natural part of the evolution of viruses.
• Every mutation is not necessarily bad. Each virus mutates; Shifts and changes are not always a big problem.
• Viruses multiply and circulate at a rate of about one to two mutations per month in global phylogeny.
• The pressure on the virus to thrive is heightened by the fact that millions of people are now infected.

How harmful is the new covid strain?

• This new variant shows about 17 changes in the genome, this is a very big change.
• Due to this change, the transmissibility of this virus has also changed and is 70% more contagious than the previous variant.
• There is a high possibility that the new strain is still in the UK as it has not been found in other parts of Europe.

Is it deadlier than the previous known Covid 19?

As the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 makes its way around the world, there has been an increase in predictions that the virus will morph into something more deadly and become an even scarier threat to humanity." mutation” This term naturally refers to apprehensions of unexpected and strange changes, But In some cases, those mutations may actually be a weak virus. Typically, however, the changes are so slight that there is no noticeable difference between disease transmission and the death rate.

there is a very rare possibility that a virus could mutate to become more aggressive, if anything, RNA viruses are more likely to mutate into a weaker version.

According to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, this is no more deadly. But still, the UK’s  Health Minister said that, at least in our country, the situation is getting out of control. The possibility is that such cases will increase not only in our country but around the world.

How many variations of SARS-COV-2 have we found?

There are thousands of SARS-COV-2 lineages that differ, on average, only a small number of definitive mutations. It is true that SARS-COV-2 currently circulating in the world has very little genomicindyc diversity.

What is the effect on the vaccine? 

• There is currently no evidence to suggest that the Pfizer vaccine will not protect people from the new strain.

• The Pfizer vaccine developed jointly by Pfizer and BioNTech is 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection.

• It uses messenger RNA (mRNA) terminology, which is based on synthetic genes.

• This differs from traditional vaccines, which work by the training body to recognize and kill proteins produced by pathogens.

• The mRNA tricks the patient's immune system into producing the viral protein itself.

• Protein is harmless, but enough to trigger a strong immune response.

Vaccines should still be effective against it and the new strain is not considered to be any more deadly, but people are increasingly concerned because the mutation appears to be 70 percent more contagious.

"It should be possible to create an effective vaccine against COVID-19 that will provide permanent immunity against this particular virus because we have many other viruses that do not change quickly, ”

The new coronavirus is an RNA virus - a collection of genetic material packed inside a protein shell. RNA viruses such as influenza and measles are more prone to mutations and mutations than DNA viruses such as herpes, chickenpox, and human papillomavirus (HPV). The slow and gentle nature of mutations is good news for a vaccine. The virus is still similar to the original sequence. For over 45 years, we had a very effective vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (which are also RNA viruses). That’s why there is no need to panic when we finally have a vaccine against COVID-19, it is most likely to protect people from "the greatest number of transmissible mutations of COVID-19 strains."

It should be possible to create an effective COVID-19 vaccine that provides long-term immunity against this particular virus, like many other viruses that do not change quickly.