It has been just revealed the fact that the new covid variant is mutating in odd ways. Check out the following reports about this below.
New covid variant
According to the latest report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on October 28, a new variant of COVID-19 called HV.1 has now become the most diagnosed variant in the United States, surpassing EG.5 (Eris).
The report indicates that the percentage of cases caused by HV.1 has increased significantly from 1.1% in early August to 25.2% at present, while the percentage of cases caused by EG.5 has declined from 24.3% on September 30 to 21.9% within a month.
HV.1 is a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that comes after EG.5. EG.5 is a grandchild of XBB.1.5, which is also known as the Kraken. Due to its fast transmission rate and its ability to evade immunity with ease, thanks to its unique mutation, EG.5 has become widespread globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified EG.5 as a “variant of concern” (VOC) since early August.
HV.1 shares almost all the spike mutations that EG.5 has, including the same unique mutation. However, HV.1 has an additional mutation that is surprising.
The additional mutation is known as L452R and it increases the virus’s infectivity. This key mutation was present in the delta variant of early 2022, but it is absent in the omicron variant.
It’s hard to understand how the COVID virus is mutating so quickly.
Perhaps we can gain some insight from Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in quantum physics. Just as physicists can’t determine the precise location or speed of a particle in the microscopic world, virologists can’t predict the mutation sites or the rate at which COVID variants will mutate.
A recent analysis by Peking University assistant professor Yunlong Cao and his team has revealed that the HV.1 strain has slightly better transmissibility than the previous dominant strain, EG.5.
This is because HV.1 has a modestly better binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor. However, there are two other strains to be concerned about: the omicron subvariant HK.3 (FLip) and BA.2.86 (Pirola), which have much lower binding affinities.
The new COVID-19 variant, HV.1, poses a significant threat as it is more capable of evading vaccine-induced immunity than the previous variant, EG.5.
This means that the current vaccines may not be effective against HV.1 as they are unable to produce antibodies that can neutralize the virus. The faster transmission and increased evasiveness of the HV.1 variant may also explain the recent surge in cases reported by the CDC.
