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Microbiologist Sharon Peacock expects variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to continue to haunt the world into the early 2030s.
“Once we have the virus under control or it mutates itself so that it is no longer virulent and causes disease, we can stop worrying,” Peacock, who leads the U.K.’s coronavirus sample sequencing program, told the BBC’s “Newscast.”
“But looking into the future, I think we’ll be doing this (sequencing) for years. We’ll still be doing it 10 years from now, in my opinion.” It is normal and in most cases harmless for viruses to develop mutations, he said. Only a very few cause special properties that could make the pathogen more infectious or limit the immune response to the virus. These must be monitored and detected at an early stage.
The Cambridge University biologist also believes that the Corona variant B.1.1.7, first discovered in the United Kingdom, will soon become the dominant variant not only in the United Kingdom. “It will, in all likelihood, spill over throughout the world.” Already, the more contagious variant has been detected in more than 50 countries. It is worrying that the UK mutant is starting to mutate further and that this could affect vaccine efficacy and immunity, he said.
- source: k.at/picture: pixabay.com
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