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The Six Strains of SARS-CoV-2

posted by martyb on Tuesday August 04 2020, @11:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the six-degrees-to-Kevin-Bacon dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

The six strains of SARS-CoV-2:

"The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is presumably already optimized to affect human beings, and this explains its low evolutionary change," explains Federico Giorgi, a researcher at Unibo and coordinator of the study. "This means that the treatments we are developing, including a vaccine, might be effective against all the virus strains."

Currently, there are six strains of coronavirus. The original one is the L strain, that appeared in Wuhan in December 2019. Its first mutation—the S strain—appeared at the beginning of 2020, while, since mid-January 2020, we have had strains V and G. To date strain G is the most widespread: it mutated into strains GR and GH at the end of February 2020.

Globally, strains G, GH and GR are constantly increasing. Strain S can be found in some restricted areas in the U.S. and Spain. The L and V strains are gradually disappearing.

Journal Reference:
Mercatelli, Daniele, Giorgi, Federico M.. Geographic and Genomic Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 Mutations, Frontiers in Microbiology (DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01800)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 05 2020, @11:57PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 05 2020, @11:57PM (#1032032) Journal

    There are viruses, phages, and bacteria that live in harmony with their hosts - they get the most propagation.

    How do they propagate? An infectious agent has to divert resources from the host in order to spread. And the less resources it diverts, the less likely any opportunity to spread to another host succeeds.

  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday August 06 2020, @01:03AM (1 child)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Thursday August 06 2020, @01:03AM (#1032066) Journal
    A lot of them are picked up from the mother, including during passage through the birth canal (the increased rate of cesareans is associated with lower immune response). There's also via skin to skin contact between mother and child, and from the environment. 9/10 of all the cells in your body aren't human, they're bacteria, viruses, and plages.

    Mitochondria have their own DNA independent of the host organism, which is why most biologists believe that they started off as independent bacteria. All those bugs help us survive, digest food, etc, so we are the agents for transmission from one host to another. They are literally along for the ride, not having to expend any effort or energy to "infect " a new host.

    When powerful antibiotics deplete your gut bacteria, for example, you're advised to eat lots of yoghourt to restore them. Depleted natural micro flora in the vagina creates an environment ripe for yeast infections. Depleted skin bacteria leaves a surplus of fatty acids on your skin, making your perspiration stink.

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