> What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.
> This is when it becomes a “variant of concern” – like Omicron.
> It remains to be seen in which category this new variant will fall.
Let’s just wait and see and hope for the best, will we?
time to bar all travellers from France.
The headline suggests this has originated in France. However, from the article:
>*”The index case had returned from travelling to Cameroon, suggesting to experts that it may have originated in the African country.”*
>”HIV patients whose infections are not controlled with medication could “become a factory of variants for the whole world” Tulio de Oliveira, geneticist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.
>”“This is a syndemic” Dr. Jonathan Li, Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research Clinical Core, using a term that describes the confluence of two epidemics with the potential to worsen outcomes for both.”
The article I’ve linked above describes the findings of their research – that the driving force behind rapid accumulation of genetic changes is thought to be impaired immune response due to unsuccessfully treated HIV. People with HIV/Aids can have COVID for months, allowing the virus time to multiply tens of times in one person. The article gives examples, such as a woman who continued to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 for 216 days. “She was hospitalized with moderate illness for nine days in September soon after she contracted the coronavirus, but she never became severely ill with COVID-19. Still, the coronavirus that lingered in her body underwent 13 genetic changes related to its crucial spike protein, along with at least 19 other genetic shifts elsewhere that could change the behavior of the virus.”
[“The WHO African Region is the most affected region, with 25.7 million people living with HIV in 2018. The African Region also accounts for almost two thirds of the global total of new HIV infections. In 2018, about 1.1 million people were infected with HIV in the African Region.”](https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/hivaids)
Its presence was first detected by experts at the IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille.
Just forget these data…
The sample is from a French patient in mid-November. Since it came from Cameroon, it must have mutated in Africa in October or earlier, even before Omicron.
Since it can’t compete against Omicron, it’ll disappear.
Honey wake up, new variant just dropped
Sigma variant when
Is this the first detection of the French variant?
Ferocious
More variants are the best news for me. Because of covid we got to work from home, but they want to return to the office first thing when things cool down. No more office!
10 comments
> What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.
> This is when it becomes a “variant of concern” – like Omicron.
> It remains to be seen in which category this new variant will fall.
Let’s just wait and see and hope for the best, will we?
time to bar all travellers from France.
The headline suggests this has originated in France. However, from the article:
>*”The index case had returned from travelling to Cameroon, suggesting to experts that it may have originated in the African country.”*
Something we are hearing little about (WHO – why not?) is the [link between HIV/Aids, the prevelance of HIV/Aids in Africa and new variants of COVID.](https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-06-03/why-reaching-herd-immunity-in-the-u-s-wont-be-enough-to-protect-us-from-covid-19%3f)
>”HIV patients whose infections are not controlled with medication could “become a factory of variants for the whole world” Tulio de Oliveira, geneticist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.
>”“This is a syndemic” Dr. Jonathan Li, Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research Clinical Core, using a term that describes the confluence of two epidemics with the potential to worsen outcomes for both.”
The article I’ve linked above describes the findings of their research – that the driving force behind rapid accumulation of genetic changes is thought to be impaired immune response due to unsuccessfully treated HIV. People with HIV/Aids can have COVID for months, allowing the virus time to multiply tens of times in one person. The article gives examples, such as a woman who continued to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 for 216 days. “She was hospitalized with moderate illness for nine days in September soon after she contracted the coronavirus, but she never became severely ill with COVID-19. Still, the coronavirus that lingered in her body underwent 13 genetic changes related to its crucial spike protein, along with at least 19 other genetic shifts elsewhere that could change the behavior of the virus.”
[“The WHO African Region is the most affected region, with 25.7 million people living with HIV in 2018. The African Region also accounts for almost two thirds of the global total of new HIV infections. In 2018, about 1.1 million people were infected with HIV in the African Region.”](https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/hivaids)
[3.7 percent of adults are HIV positive in Cameroon.](https://phia.icap.columbia.edu/national-hiv-survey-in-cameroon-shows-advances-in-treatment-and-remaining-challenges-to-achieving-epidemic-control/)
Its presence was first detected by experts at the IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille.
Just forget these data…
The sample is from a French patient in mid-November. Since it came from Cameroon, it must have mutated in Africa in October or earlier, even before Omicron.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.24.21268174v1.full-text
Since it can’t compete against Omicron, it’ll disappear.
Honey wake up, new variant just dropped
Sigma variant when
Is this the first detection of the French variant?
Ferocious
More variants are the best news for me. Because of covid we got to work from home, but they want to return to the office first thing when things cool down. No more office!