Recently, another mutant strain of the new coronavirus has entered Hong Kong. The previous troubles have not been resolved, and the new strain has come again, which inevitably caused panic among some people. But the emergence of new strains is inevitable, and changes are the norm. According to past experiences about the mutation of the new coronavirus strain, if someone is still panicking, it would be too ignorant.
Health Protection Center announced that two new variant virus strains were found in imported cases, namely BA.2.75.2, which caused the rebound of the Singapore epidemic, and the XBB.1 sub-series virus that first appeared in Hong Kong. Both cases were asymptomatic infections. The XBB.1 subsector Omicron branch is a variant that reproduces from the BA.2 lineage. The virus appeared earlier in Singapore and India.
This time the new mutant strain was introduced into Hong Kong. Many people feel very scared when they hear about the mutant strain. In fact, it is a manifestation of ignorance, because virus mutation is the norm, and it is not only the new coronavirus mutates. Take the previous SARS virus for example. It is not really gone. In 2005, the National Public Health Center concluded that the SARS-CoV M gene has a tendency to gradually increase mutations over the epidemic, but no one died from this virus later, so no one has mentioned it again.
Similarly, including influenza virus, it is an RNA virus that causes humans and animals to suffer from influenza . Among the three influenza viruses that infect humans, influenza A virus has extremely strong variability and is the type with the most frequent mutations. Every once in a while, a large antigenic mutation occurs, resulting in a new strain. In addition, in nature, various viruses are always mutating. Viral mutation is not news, but virus mutation is news.
The new coronavirus has received disproportionate attention
The reason why the new coronavirus has mutated so much is because everyone is too focused on it and keeps sorting it genes. In fact, over time, the virus's genetic code will continue to change, accumulate mutations, new variants will continue to appear, and some variants will be replaced and disappear. When two or more strains exchange genetic material, recombinant viruses are likely to appear. Similar to hybridization, recombinant viruses usually inherit the characteristics of certain strains. The recombination process occurs naturally and is the norm for viral mutation.
recombinant viruses can produce new genotypes with unique phenotypic characteristics, and their transmission and toxicity also change accordingly. But the direction of mutation is random, and it may become stronger or weaker. According to past experience with the new coronavirus, from Alpha to Delta to Omicron, the general transmission power of new strains is relatively stronger each time, but the virulence is relatively weaker.
So virus mutation may not be strengthened, but a necessary stage for the virus to move towards normalization. Finally, after waves of reshuffle, coexist with humans more and more peacefully. This is also the general trend of the mutation of the new coronavirus. From this perspective, mutation happens to be a good thing, not a bad thing. When facing new mutant strains, you don’t have to panic, you should look at them from a scientific perspective.
text: Wu Tongshan
