SARS-CoV-2 Variants

"We don't really have a [positive] handle on why they're more transmissible [newly emerged mutant strains of SARS-Cov-2 virus], so what aspect of general prevention is most important is not yet clear."

"There's a lot of really cruddy masks, like the ones that are most comfortable to wear, are extremely breathable and not very good at filtering, and that's why they're more comfortable."

Dr.Lynora Saxinger, infectious diseases expert, University of Alberta

"I think what we have to keep in mind is, even though they [new virus strains] may be more transmissible, the way they're transmitted is still the same -- so it's still coughing, sneezing, those kinds of things."

The basic measures are still the things that are going to help to prevent transmission."

"Everyone would like the vaccine rollout to be much faster than it has been, because I do think that's going to go a long way in helping to prevent the spread of this variant. What are we left with? Well, we're left with unfortunately having to do the same things that we've done over the last eight, ten, twelve months."

"If we can actually decrease transmission, then we're going to decrease the ability for the virus to be replicating and therefore decreasing the chance that it's going to develop a mutation that is significant."

Dr.Stephanie Smith, infectious diseases expert, University of Alberta

As vaccine coverage surges in Israel, scientists are watching virus transmission and variants closely.   Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty

The virus variants of SARS-CoV-2 are proving to be infinitely more contagious than the original virus. The U.K. version, as an example, has now become the dominant virus infecting people in far greater numbers than the original virus, in the United Kingdom. That variant has begun to make inroads abroad and Canada is no exception to its entry, leaving health authorities to warn of the potential for vastly increased contagion via the variants. They have the capacity to spread more effectively and more widely than the original that has caused worldwide disruption of every facet of daily life, private and public.

Public health officials in Ontario have given warning that beyond a 'transient' exposure to the variant identified as coming from the U.K.; a hand briefly outstretched and touching that of a cashier in the supermarket handing you your receipt or a bag, or happening to walk past an infected person in a hallway offer the potential of instant transmission of the virus eager to invade as many human bodies as it can to wildly replicate itself and continue contaminating other hosts in a deadly cycle of mass contagion.

What was once common interchanges between people has now become high risk exposure. Three variants have distinguished themselves out of the hundreds that may have over time developed harmlessly; those three are anything but harmless in the characteristics they have developed to make them even more communicable and possibly more lethal; they are identified as the U.K. variant that emerged first in the fall of 2020, another variant that came out of South Africa in December, and more recently a third variant from Brazil, first identified in early January.

Each of these variants have found their way into Canada; the first to emerge in greater numbers than the last whose initial presence has just now been detected, and thought to be the most dangerous of all, to date. Case counts for these variants are still relatively low, in the hundreds, but their presence represents an alarming uptick in prevalence and danger coming on line, persuading the medical/scientific community of the need to begin screening all positive cases for their variant genomes.

 

According to evidence leading to studies, the U.K. variant's mutation is such that it latches more readily to human cells with some estimates placing the variant transmission capacity at around 50 percent and more -- greater than the original virus. The larger concern over these variants is the possibility that as well as being far more infectious, they are also deadlier, a fear that is yet to be fully established according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. 

 

Whether or not the vaccines now being used globally are capable of working as well with the variants to help prevent illness or infections from these vaccines is also yet to be established, but early studies appear to indicate that such properties tend to vary from vaccine to vaccine. In any event, the best advice health and government authorities stress is to carry on with the established protocols of distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene. Hanging in until vaccines arrive in sufficient doses to immunize the entire population.

 

The broad measures currently expressed as the best possible methods of avoidance; relying on distant contact with others is seen to be the most effective tool to avoid transmission, for the general public. Three-layer masks come highly recommended, the middle layer meant to filter out really fine particles. Failing that, the standardized medical masks. Although it remains unclear what may occur next with the variants, reaction and adjustment accordingly is paramount: "It throws a wrench into the whole reopening plan a little bit", mentioned Dr.Smith ruefully.

 

Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating globally:

• The United Kingdom (UK) identified a variant called B.1.1.7 with a large number of mutations in the fall of 2020. This variant spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. In January 2021, experts in the UK reported that this variant may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variant viruses, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding. It has since been detected in many countries around the world. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of December 2020.
• In South Africa, another variant called B.1.351 emerged independently of B.1.1.7. Originally detected in early October 2020, B.1.351 shares some mutations with B.1.1.7. Cases caused by this variant have been reported in the US at the end of January 2021.
• In Brazil, a variant called P.1 emerged that was first identified in travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at an airport in Japan, in early January. This variant contains a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of January 2021.

These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19. An increase in the number of cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations, and potentially more deaths.

U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention