Quick Response Needed to Control New Hybrid Viruses

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Two variants of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which were first identified in the United Kingdom and the United States, have merged into a heavily-mutated hybrid virus, marking a new chapter of the virus mutation. In order to avoid more mutations, quick response is needed to control Covid-19 through surveillance, social distancing and vaccination.

The mutation, which occurs due to "recombination" was first discovered in a sample of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in California, US. The hybrid virus is the result of the recombination of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant found in the UK and B.1.429 variant first reported in California and which may be responsible for a recent wave of cases in Los Angeles because it carries a mutation making it resistant to some antibodies.

Also read: The Impact of COVID-19 Virus Mutations

The recombinant was discovered by Bette Korber at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, who told a meeting organized by the New York Academy of Sciences on Feb. 2 that she had seen “pretty clear” evidence of it in her database of US viral genome, NewScientist, reported in its Feb. 17 edition.

In her presentation, Korber said, "We found at least one recombinant." Unlike regular mutations, where changes accumulate one at a time, recombination can bring together multiple mutations at one go. Most of the time, these don’t confer any advantage to the virus, but occasionally they do, and make it more dangerous for humans.

Molecular genomics researcher from Aligning Bioinformatics and a member of the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium, Riza Arief Putranto, said these findings should be first published in a journal for peer review. "However, if this recombination has occurred, it could be dangerous because it can produce new viruses. It could become SARS-CoV-3, ”he said in Jakarta on Thursday (18/2/2021).

Also read: Vaccination and Threat of Virus Mutation

According to Riza, this recombinant mutation marks a new phase of the Covid-19 pandemic because more hybrid variants will emerge and bring consequences for changes in the character of the virus that cannot be ascertained in the future.

Kompas/Priyombodo

A trader receives the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Tanah Abang market block A, Central Jakarta, Thursday (18/2/2021).

The head of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Amin Soebandrio, said that the fact that the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 had not been yet discovered in Indonesia did not mean that it did not exist in the country. "We just have not found the new variant. However, we are pursuing it with a focus on unusual cases, "he said.

At present, Indonesia still lacks the genomic surveillance capacity to detect new variants of SARS-CoV-2 Based on the total number of genomes registered with the GISAID database, Indonesia only ranks 7th out of 10 countries in Southeast Asia.

One of the shields

Separately, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said in a virtual discussion in Jakarta that that a vaccine was only one of the shields to protect humans from Covid-19. There are other measures in place to control the outbreak, such as testing, contact tracing and isolation, as well as social restrictions and preventing crowd formation.

Also read: Vaccines: Some Successful, Others still Awaiting Results

"The existing vaccines are developed for old strains. If the virus changes, the current vaccines will be ineffective. Therefore, vaccine administration must be accelerated to achieve herd immunity, "he said.

It is difficult to predict when the Covid-19 pandemic will end. If there are still countries that are not yet free of it, this will become endemic and can reappear at any time. "This is actually a great lesson for mankind. When will it end? The easiest (answer) is until the natural balance occurs, "said Wiku. (AIK)

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.