People infected with new Covid-19 variant less likely to get reinfected
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DURBAN - Scientists have found that people who have been infected by the new Covid-19 variant, dubbed 501Y.V2, have developed antibodies preventing reinfection.
Speaking during a virtual media briefing, the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platformâs (Krisp)âs Professor Tulio de Oliveira said people infected by the new variant have immunity against the variant and other lineages.
The briefing was jointly hosted by Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande and Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize.
Genomic research has proved to be a potent tool in the fight against Covid-19. Investigations by South African genomic scientists into the evolutionary characteristics of Sars-CoV-2 resulted in the detection of the new variant.
A coronavirus variant by any other name … please
A coronavirus variant by any other name … please
With no easy alternatives at hand, people have resorted to calling B.1.351 the South African variant Mar 03 2021, 00:07 ist
updated: Mar 03 2021, 04:38 ist
Those were the charming names that scientists proposed for a new variant of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa. The convoluted strings of letters, numbers and dots are deeply meaningful for the scientists who devised them, but how was anyone else supposed to keep them straight? Even the easiest to remember, B.1.351, refers to an entirely different lineage of the virus if a single dot is missed or misplaced.
20H/501Y.V2. VOC 202012/02. B.1.351. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Those were the charming names that scientists proposed for a new variant of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa. The convoluted strings of letters, numbers and dots are deeply meaningful for the scientists who devised them, but how was anyone else supposed to keep them straight? Even the easiest to remember, B.1.351, refers to an entirely different lineage of the virus if a single dot is missed or misplaced. The naming conventions for viruses were fine as long as variants remained esoteric topics of research. But they are now the source of anxiety for billions of people. They need names that roll off the tongue, without stigmatizing the people or places associated with them. “What’s challenging is coming up with names that are distinct, that are informative, that don’t involve geographic references and that are kind of pronounceable and memorable,”
Covid 19 coronavirus: Why virus variants have such weird names nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.