The so-called’LA mutant virus’ that originated in LA was found to have spread across the United States and around the world beyond CA.
Currently, 44% of the confirmed cases of’Corona 19′ in Southern California are’LA foot mutant virus’, and the case of’LA foot mutant virus’ is a third of the CA as a whole. Experts believe it will become a viral dominant species in CA.
This is reporter Joo Hyeong-seok.
Amid the spread of various mutant viruses recently, the mutant virus reported for the first time in LA is spreading all over the world.
The LA Times reported that the LA fluctuation virus is spreading all over the world.
Scientists, including epidemic experts, told the LA Times that the first mutant virus was discovered in LA in July of last year (2020), and now 44% of all new infections in Southern California are LA mutant viruses.
In CA as a whole, about one-third of recent new infections are identified as LA mutant viruses.
The spread of the LA mutant virus has already exceeded CA. According to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, it has already spread nationwide in the United States, and the LA mutant virus has been found in six countries around the world.
Specifically, LA mutant viruses in Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Washington, DC, etc. Came out.
Globally, it has been officially reported that the LA virus has been found in Australia, Denmark, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK.
It spread evenly in Europe, Oceania, Asia, and the Middle East.
The research team at Cedars Sinai Medical Center’Corona 19′, which published a paper on the LA mutant virus at JAMA, said that it has been confirmed that the existing’Corona 19′ virus has been transformed into a new LA mutant virus through genetic change.
However, it was cautious that it was difficult to draw conclusive conclusions yet, whether this mutant virus only became more contagious from person to person, whether it could make infected people more sick than the existing virus.
However, it is an analysis that the situation that the LA virus is already spreading throughout CA and is prevalent in CA is concerned.
The researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center emphasized that the LA mutant virus is different from the British mutant virus, B117 or the South African mutant virus, B1351.
Overall, five mutant viruses have been discovered in CA, and among them, the LA mutant virus is known as L452R.
The LA mutant virus, L452R, has been modified in the human receptor-binding domain of the spike protein, which is the core of the’Corona 19′ virus.
The Howard University research team, who conducted a study on the LA mutant virus, found that it has the ability to adhere to human cells more strongly than the existing’Corona 19′.
The ability to adhere more strongly to these human cells is the reason for its high propagation power.
By the way, Dr. Eric Bail of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center research team pointed out that it is true that mutations occur frequently in existing viruses, but that does not necessarily change the activity in the human body whenever mutations occur.
In other words, it is explained that the mutant virus is first changed so that it can penetrate into the human body, and the appearance of activity after entering the body is different.
At this time, it is not clear whether the mutant viruses found in CA, such as the LA mutant virus, have a higher lethality or enhanced ability to make it more severe, but it is unusual for the mutant virus to rapidly increase in CA over a relatively short period of time.
Until October of last year (2020), mutant viruses were found very rarely. In December, a survey of 4,500 samples in Southern California revealed that about 24% were mutant viruses, and CA overall showed that the proportion of mutant viruses at that time reached about 18%. .
That number has risen to 44% in Southern California and a third in CA, after about a month.
Experts say that, from the standpoint of viruses, mutations are more favorable for survival.Therefore, it seems that the existing viruses are constantly mutating and changing. So, the mutation virus in CA is increasing rapidly in recent years. ‘And expected to become the dominant species.
Experts believe that travelers traveling from Southern California through Los Angeles International Airport to all parts of the world are carrying the Los Angeles mutant virus around the world.