a Range Variants (P.1), which appeared in the city in November 2020 Manaus, is more lethal than the original strain of the new coronavirus, as shown by a study conducted in Brazil and released this week. In research, samples of patients from So Jose do Rio Preto, in the interior of Sao Paulo, collected between October last year and June 2021, showed how the introduction of P.1 into the region was extremely rapid, leading to other variants that were dominant in the region.
Tension was associated with an increase of 127% of severe cases and 162% of deaths between March and April this year in the city of So Paulo. These figures are corroborated by the chaotic situation in Manaus at the beginning of the year. From January to February, P.1 comprised 9.7% of the samples registered in the city. It reached 96.4% in just one month.
Also, this introduction had an effect on the severity of cases over time, particularly in people under the age of 70, a group with a 109% increase in severe cases. Among people over 70, the percentage was 19%.
The study was carried out jointly by the USP and the Municipal Health Department of So Jose do Rio Preto by Femarp’s Virology Research Laboratory at the Rio Preto Base Hospital, in addition to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Universities of Washington. and Texas. The study was released on the medRxiv platform, but has not yet been reviewed.
The gamma variant remains the most prevalent strain in the sequenced samples in the country. Despite this, the Delta version has advanced in recent weeks, with Expressive hikes in places like Rio City and Greater So Paulo.
The survey also revealed that vaccination has reduced severe cases and deaths from COVID-19, in line with other studies conducted around the world. The study also showed that vaccines transmit fewer coronaviruses, as the immune system fights infection better and prevents transmission with higher viral loads.
It is necessary to look at the data carefully, according to researcher Wasim Sayed, producer of the Liga de Mic of Ribeirao Preto’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at USP. Sayed says, “It is interesting to note that, given these data, we think that P.1 is, by itself, smaller than larger.” “But that’s not necessarily true. It was also caused by vaccination (of the elderly), who were already receiving doses of CoronaVac and AstraZeneca at the time.”
This can also translate into group immunity – so-called herd immunity – in which vaccinated people protect those who could not get the dose. Syed emphasizes that vaccination agents promote this effect, not the initial treatment.
“The interesting thing about the study is that with the Brazilian data and with the Brazilian scientists, all this is happening,” the researcher says.
