"Mutant COVID-19 Virus, Mutates Again"

Storage Team Research, Different Dominant Variants Between Countries (Regions)
Analyzed as Key to Revealing Mortality Rate Differences Between Countries (Regions)

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Young-shin] Research results have emerged indicating that the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is mutating again, reported the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 21st (local time). The newspaper stated that these research findings are significant in that they can explain the differences in mortality rates between countries (regions) affected by the spread of COVID-19.

According to SCMP, a research team led by Professor Li Lanzhuan of Zhejiang University in China published a paper containing these findings on the medical research paper site Medrxiv.org. Professor Li is an infectious disease expert who first proposed the lockdown of Wuhan, China.

The research team randomly analyzed strains from 11 COVID-19 patients in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. They discovered 30 mutations, of which 19 were new mutations.

The team also found that the mutated virus from severe patients was similar to the virus identified throughout Europe. They confirmed that the mutated virus from mild patients was similar to the virus found in some parts of the United States, such as Washington. Similarities were also confirmed between the virus mainly identified in New York and the European virus. This indicates that the dominant variants in different countries (regions) are essentially different, which can explain the differences in mortality rates between countries (regions), SCMP reported.

The research team also confirmed that some of the mutated viruses could lead to functional changes in the spike protein. They predicted that functional changes in the spike protein could increase infectivity.

The team experimentally confirmed that some mutated viruses amplify the virus up to 270 times more than other viruses. In particular, the researchers reported discovering '3-nucleotide components' in a 60-year-old COVID-19 patient. Typically, genes mutate at one site at a time. The team introduced that this patient received hospitalization treatment for a much longer period than other COVID-19 patients.

Professor Zhang Xuegong of the Institute of Information Science and Technology at Tsinghua University said, "We do not know much about the novel virus," adding, "It will take a lot of time and effort to understand the novel virus."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.