Strain P681H began occurring in patient fluid samples around November 2020, but traces of it
existence can be detected in wastewater samples collected as early as October.
Research text
It also clarifies that this mutation, presumably, contributes to the acceleration of the spread of the new type of coronavirus, while not making it more resistant to antibodies.
Analyzing samples from different cities in Israel,which were collected between August 2020 and January 2021, scientists noticed that they contained an unusually large number of fragments of the genome of a new type of coronavirus with the same mutation, P681H.
Neta Zuckerman of Central VirologyIsraeli Ministry of Health laboratories, along with a team of scientists, suggested that P681H makes the virus more infectious. Therefore, biologists are interested in how much this mutation is common among the inhabitants of Israel.
According to Zuckerman and her colleagues, the new mutation has not yet affected the number of infections or the frequency of hospitalizations of its carriers. The authors of the new work continue to monitor the new strain.
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