New deadly mutation of coronavirus requires urgent attention, warns study

The study report suggested that this mutated pathogen seems to have replaced the original coronavirus that originated in Wuhan.

A new study conducted by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory has revealed that coronavirus has undergone a very deadly mutation that requires urgent attention. Researchers have named this mutation Spike D614G, and they believe that this new strain of coronavirus may be more infectious than the pathogen that is currently creating chaos in all nooks of the world.

More details of this mutated pathogen

As per the study report, this mutated pathogen started spreading in February and it has soon become the most dominant form for coronavirus. The report also states that this mutated virus seems to have replaced the original form of coronavirus that apparently originated in Wuhan, China.

coronavirus mutation — Representational ImagePixabay

"The mutation Spike D614G is of urgent concern; it began spreading in Europe in early February, and when introduced to new regions it rapidly becomes the dominant form. Also, we present evidence of recombination between locally circulating strains, indicative of multiple strain infections. These findings have important implications for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, pathogenesis, and immune interventions," wrote the researchers in the study report.

It should be noted that this study report is currently in its pre-print stage, and is not peer-reviewed by medical experts.

Did coronavirus mutate to 30 different strains?

A few weeks back, a study carried out by Professor Li Lanjuan and colleagues from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China had suggested that coronavirus has already mutated to more than 03 different strains. The research report literally shocked medical experts, and they believe that the healthcare sector might have underestimated the mutation ability of coronavirus.

As of now, coronavirus has killed more than 2,58,360 people worldwide, and the total number of infected people has already crossed 3.7 million. In the United States alone, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 72,200 people, and there are more than 12,30,000 positive cases in the country alone.