Prof Felicity Burt, an expert in arbovirology in the Division of Virology at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the National Health Laboratory.
New variants of Covid-19 may prolong the duration of the virus bizcommunity.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bizcommunity.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Reuters
South Africa and the UK are probably the two countries globally that have methodically sequenced the largest number of SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from patients, writes
Felicity Burt, Dominque Goedhals, and
Sabeehah Vawda.
As we optimistically embarked on a new year with hopes of seeing an end to the global pandemic, masks, and social restrictions, our news channels were consumed with stories about virus variants and vaccine rollouts. What do these variants mean and will the vaccines protect against the changes that have emerged in the virus and save us from the new normal?
The news of a mutated virus most likely conjures movie-like images of an invisible, indestructible enemy causing massive disruption. The reality is fortunately much less dramatic, as these changes are actually expected.
Variants, vaccines, and virology - are we protected?
News reports on mutated, more virulant, strains of the virus most likely conjures movie-like images of an invisible, indestructible enemy causing massive disruption. The reality is fortunately much less dramatic, as these changes are actually expected. Just to reiterate, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has an RNA genome that codes for all the proteins which the virus produces.
123rf.comThe exact details of how the virus replicates and produces new progeny, although of interest, are beyond the scope of this article. It is sufficient at this point to merely acknowledge that, during replication, the mechanism employed by viruses with an RNA genome allows for the introduction of mutations in the genes that code for the viral proteins.