Scientists discover vaccine-defying 'pyrola' variant of coronavirus

The new subspecies of the Pyrola coronavirus has many mutations, such large evolutionary changes are similar to those of the Omicron, which caused a sharp increase in the incidence in early 2022

Scientists are concerned about the emergence of a new variant of the COVID-19 BA.2.86 virus, dubbed "pyrol", due to the large number of mutations that could potentially help it overcome the protection created by vaccines, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The virus was found in patients in the US , Denmark, Israel, South Africa, Portugal and the UK . So far, there are few cases, and Western researchers, according to the WSJ, cannot say for sure whether this variant will be widespread, more contagious, and will cause serious consequences.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientific consultant Caitlin Jetelina said Pyrola is "dramatically different" from other coronavirus variants currently circulating. Virologist and professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Jesse Bloom, said that the BA.2.86 evolutionary leap is similar to the leap of the omicron variant, which caused a significant increase in the incidence.

Professor of the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University (Virginia), scientific director of the Atlas biomedical holding Ancha Baranova, in a conversation with RBC, also indicated that pyrola has many mutations compared to other variants of COVID-19.

“It immediately aroused the interest of scientists, because it is a rather ancestral variant of the omicron descended from the BA.2 lineage, which is different from the variants that we raged in late 2022 - early 2023 - “Arcturus” and “ kraken. These two variants differ from what is now, BA.2.86, by 36 mutations - this is a lot, and from the ancestral BA.2 BA.2.86 differs by 34 mutations. That is, it is some kind of separate, far-standing branch of the omicron. This option is now not the most common. Pirola is spreading a lot compared to zero, but not compared to other options,” Baranova explained.

According to her, due to the large number of mutations, the likelihood that the effectiveness of vaccines will be lower is really there, but it is impossible to predict by how much. In addition, it is still too early to say whether the new variant will become a threat or not, although the professor suggests that it will, since “we have poor epidemiological control now.” The symptoms caused by "pyrola" cannot yet be described due to the small number of cases, but they are unlikely to differ from the general signs of coronavirus, Baranova suggested.

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In Russia for the week from August 21 to 27, more than 3 thousand cases of coronavirus infection were detected, about 1 thousand people were hospitalized, 11 died. Since the beginning of the pandemic, almost 23 million cases of infection have been recorded, the death toll has almost approached 400 thousand people.