should we be concerned about the (many) mutations of the virus?

One strain transmissible to humans in mink farms, another from Spain that has been spreading since this summer … 400 variants of the new coronavirus have been identified worldwide at this stage. But should we be concerned about these many changes? Not for the moment, replies Bruno Lina, virologist of the CHU de Lyon and member of the scientific council, to the microphone of Europa 1.

Good news for the vaccine

Because viruses make copies of themselves to spread, and the more they spread, the greater the risk of copy errors. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, these mutations have so far been without consequences for patients. “There have been some point mutations that have been observed, but none of them have produced any significant differences today. There is neither in the dynamics of transmission, nor in the dynamics of the clinical form, difference between the February-March virus and that. now “, says Bruno Lina.

But since we cannot anticipate the future evolution of the virus, we must continue sequencing its genome regularly, to make sure it doesn’t change too much. Today, its relative stability is good news from a vaccine perspective, as it means that the content of the injection could stay the same for several years, Bruno Lina believes, unlike, for example, that of the flu.