Variant B.1.1.7 has not been identified in Ecuador. of SARS-CoV-2 that causes the coronavirus. This was announced on its Twitter account by the Institute of Microbiology of the San Francisco de Quito University (USFQ).
The Institute indicated that they have completed sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genomes of each of the 24 provinces of the country and that they are preparing a report of the findings.
The agency’s action was immediate, after the United Kingdom announced the presence of this new variant of the virus. This prompted several Latin American countries, including Ecuador, to strengthen biosecurity measures and internal and external mobility measures.
These types of measures will help contain the spread of the disease and thus avoid the saturation of hospitals.
The B.1.1.7. It is not a new strain, but a mutation or change in the spike protein of the coronavirus, known as ‘spik’ or S and acts as a key that the pathogen has to enter and infect human cells.
In September and October, London scientists began studying the mutation due to the increase in cases.
Paúl Cárdenas, professor of Microbiology and researcher at the San Francisco University, commented that what worries on a global scale is that the variant is more contagious. Although he maintained that it is not more lethal.
Scientists from all over the world study the genome of the virus and the USFQ has done so since March and so far it has analyzed 107 genomes in a complete way, of more than 400 infected. That is why it is believed that the new London variant would not yet be circulating in Ecuador. Aspect that was also ratified by the Minister of Health, Juan Carlos Zevallos.
Cárdenas said that in this situation it is necessary to reinforce the monitoring of the virus so that better decisions can be made.
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