Mutated viral strain won't pose huge threat to China: expert

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/6 17:46:09

Electron microscopic images of the first strain of the novel coronavirus released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 24, 2020 (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention/Xinhua)


A Chinese expert on infectious diseases said Monday there is no evidence that the dominant global viral strain, although having undergone a mutation, has stronger virulence or will have a major impact on China's domestic epidemic situation.

The viral strain in the recent cluster of infections around Beijing's Xinfadi market is found to be the same as the one prevalent in Europe, and is the dominant global viral strain which has been found in 29 percent of global samples, research has shown.

Concerns have grown over whether the more contagious strain would increase the difficulty for Beijing municipal authorities to curb the outbreak, which has seen the number of newly confirmed patients drop to single digit for days.

When Beijing basically brought imported COVID-19 cases under control due to its swift anti-epidemic measures, the virus stopped causing expanding infections in China, Zhang Wenhong, the outspoken Shanghai-based infectious disease expert, assured the public on Monday via his personal Sina Weibo account.

But he warned that long-term surveillance of the virus was necessary, as uncertainties still exist.

While the mutated virus triggered public concerns over whether it will pose any serious danger, Zhang said despite the D614G mutation, no evidence has  been found to show that this mutation would make the strain more infectious or virulent. He added that more supporting clinical data is needed.

Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, also said on Friday that there is no evidence that the mutated virus could lead to a more severe form of the disease. 

Data shows that the virus carries a point mutation in the spike protein D614G, which has been discovered in the virus spreading around Europe and America. 

According to data from Zhang's team, released on Monday, the virus carrying the mutated strain was far from becoming the global mainstream before March, accounting for less than 10 percent of the global viral sequence, but it has been spreading from Europe to North America, South America and later Asia. Its proportion soared to 70 percent in the last three months and reached 90 percent in late June. 

Viruses with the D614G mutation have stronger infection capability on cells than those without it, according to research published in the journal Cell in late June.

At present, there is no firm timetable for the delivery of an effective novel coronavirus vaccine, but one could be possible by the end of the year, WHO had said on Friday. 

More than 200 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed worldwide, 15 of which are in the human clinical trial phase, according to Swaminathan on June 26. 

Zhang Hongtao, a research fellow from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said the vaccine would still be effective even if the virus strain has mutated, as the viral mutation rate is slow.

Zhang Wenhong also said in his research on Monday that there is no sufficient evidence to show that the D614G mutant strain will influence vaccine research and development. 

Global Times 



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