According to scientists researching the virus, Brazil's P1 coronavirus strain, which is responsible for a deadly Covid-19 outbreak in the Latin American country that has sparked international concern, is mutating in ways that may help it evade antibodies. The public health institute Fiocruz investigated the strains circulating in brazil and discovered mutations in the virus's spike region, which is used to invade and infect cells. These modifications, according to the researchers, may make the virus more immune to vaccines that target the spike protein, posing a serious threat to the seriousness of the epidemic in Latin America's most populated nation.
The version, which has rapidly become prominent in brazil, is believed to be a major force in a huge second wave that has pushed the country's death toll to over 350,000. The epidemic in brazil is particularly impacting younger people, according to hospital statistics, with more than half of all patients in intensive care in march being aged 40 or younger. Given the high speed of propagation, the mutations of the P1 variant are not unexpected, according to Ester Sabino, a scientist at the university of Sao Paulo's faculty of medicine who led the first genome sequencing of the coronavirus in Brazil.
The version, which has rapidly become prominent in brazil, is believed to be a major force in a huge second wave that has pushed the country's death toll to over 350,000. The epidemic in brazil is particularly impacting younger people, according to hospital statistics, with more than half of all patients in intensive care in march being aged 40 or younger. Given the high speed of propagation, the mutations of the P1 variant are not unexpected, according to Ester Sabino, a scientist at the university of Sao Paulo's faculty of medicine who led the first genome sequencing of the coronavirus in Brazil.
