Despite the current spread in Brazil, it only accounts for 1% of infections in the U.S. The gamma variant was identified in Japan in four travelers arriving from Brazil in November 2020, and was found in the U.S. Early studies from South Africa and countries in the European Union report that it might potentially lead to more hospitalizations and death in people under 60. This makes the beta variant more difficult to treat and more likely to cause reinfection or breakthrough infection compared to the original strain. It is also better at evading neutralizing antibodies, meaning our defense systems- natural immunity after infection, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies- have a hard time stopping the virus from breaking into cells. Like the alpha variant, it is about 50% more transmissible than the original strain. The beta variant was first identified in South Africa in October 2020 before arriving in the U.S. Treatments called monoclonal antibodies, which are designed specifically to combat the virus, also still work against the alpha variant.īeta variant (B.1.351, B.1.351.2, B.1.351.3) However, the alpha variant is susceptible to available vaccines, according to the CDC. in December 2020 and was the dominant viral strain in America until early June this year.Ĭompared to the original Wuhan strain, the alpha variant is about 50% more contagious and led to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in the U.K. It spread in Europe before arriving in the U.S. and thought to have emerged in September 2020. The alpha variant was first identified in the U.K. So far none of these mutations have changed the virus enough to undercut the vaccines. It’s also what monoclonal antibody treatments latch on to so the virus can’t get into your cells, effectively “neutralizing” the threat. And that's a potential concern because the spike protein from the original version of the virus is what scientists used to design all three authorized vaccines. The current VOCs all have mutations in the virus’s spike protein, which acts as a key to break into cells to infect them. Right now, there are only a handful of concerning COVID-19 variants. Experts are constantly working to figure out which variants we should focus on and how they change how we combat COVID-19. Thousands of variants exist around the world, but most of them do not change the way the virus acts.
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