After Omicron, delta recombinants were detected in France in mid-February, two more Omicron-related recombinant strains have been tracked. Of the three known strains, two are combinations of Omicron and delta (different variants), while the third emerged from a mixture of 2 different Omicron subtypes (Ba.1 and Ba.2). A new study explains that research is underway to understand the impact of these new COVID hybrid variants.
Which are the 3 newly identified recombinant strains?
separating the three recombinant The strain, a study by the UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA), showed that two different combinations of delta and ba.1 are xd and xf. The third one is EXE.
XD is the new name for the French Delta x BA.1 lineage. It contains the spike protein of BA.1 and the rest of the genome of Delta. It currently consists of as many as 10 sequences.
The XF is a UK Delta x BA.1 Lineage. It contains the spike and structural proteins from BA.1 but the 5′ portion of its genome from the delta. It currently includes several tens of sequences.
XE is a large UK BA.1 x BA.2 ancestry. It contains the spike and structural proteins from BA.2 but the 5′ portion of its genome from BA.1. It currently contains several hundred sequences.
How concerned should you be about the variant?
Eminent virologist Tom Peacock explained that recombinants that contain the spike and structural proteins from the same virus (such as XE or XF) are very likely to function similarly to the parent virus.
XD Maybe a little more concerning. It has been found in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark and contains structural proteins from Delta – if any of these recombinants act in a very different way than its parent it may be XD.
He said in a series of tweets, all of these recombinants (including small groups that have not been assigned) apparently should be closely monitored for signs of development and an effort to isolate and characterize them where possible. should be done.
COVID-19 may be a recombinant virus
Studies have shown that recombination itself may be the reason for the emergence of COVID-19. Scientists at the University of Glasgow published a study last month that indicates that an animal at a seafood market in Wuhan may have been co-infected with two coronaviruses at the same time – and that the two viruses reunited, as O’Micron and Delta are doing it now, to generate the initial version.
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