South Africa has released Beta and Omicron AIDS patients intensified variants
(Johannesburg, 6th) South Africa first notified the World Health Organization of the discovery of a variant strain of Omicron coronavirus on the 24th of last month. The New York Times reported on Saturday (4th) that Beta and Omicron mutants have appeared in South Africa. Experts have discovered mutations of the new coronavirus in patients who have not taken AIDS drugs appropriately. It is believed that certain mutants and love appearing in South Africa HIV related. As 13% of the population in South Africa is HIV carriers, and the immunity of those who have not taken the medicine or the treatment has been chronically weak, there are cases showing that the new coronavirus can stay in their bodies for 216 days, which is like a hotbed of mutations.
“New Times” reported that the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), which tracked virus mutations and discovered Beta and Omicron variants, had been closely monitored as early as the beginning of the epidemic The cause of the epidemic is that there are 8 million AIDS patients in South Africa (accounting for 13% of the population). The report pointed out that if someone is infected with AIDS but is not diagnosed or treated, and the confirmed person does not take daily medication, the HIV will weaken their immune system. Once the coronavirus invades their bodies, it can take weeks or even months to clear them. Coronavirus stays in the body for so long, it has the opportunity to continue to mutate. If the mutant strain is passed on to others, it may spread widely.
South African experts suspect that people with severely weakened immune functions may cause new variants after being infected with the coronavirus. KRISP researchers later discovered two cases. In the first case last year, a 36-year-old female AIDS patient received treatment but no results. After that, she contracted the new coronavirus. It took 216 days to clear the virus. At that time, there were 32 different new coronaviruses in her body. mutation. The other case was last month when Oliveira and his team discovered a sample of coronavirus with dozens of mutations. The source was traced to a female AIDS patient in Western Cape who did not follow the instructions to take the drug. Coronavirus The virus stayed in her for several months and produced dozens of mutations.
Organ transplantation and anti-cancer patients are both at high risk
Salim Abdool Karim, a non-AIDS expert, said: “It doesn’t take a lot of people (to produce a variant), one or two are enough. One variant is enough to shock the world, and Omicron is one example.” He added, The origin of Omicron is unknown, and the body of AIDS patients is not the only environment conducive to the mutation of the virus. Any immune suppressed person, such as organ transplant patients or people receiving anti-cancer treatment, may be a breeding ground for mutant strains.
5.2 million AIDS patients in South Africa are receiving treatment, but one third of them fail to suppress the virus with drugs. There are many AIDS patients in South Africa, and the new crown virus is raging. It is even more urgent to stop the spread of the mutant strain. Vaccination is one of the methods. The “Financial Times” reported yesterday that South Africa is considering the introduction of compulsory measures “grain needles” to prohibit people who have not been vaccinated from entering public service places and businesses.
The chief investigator of KRISP, Tulio de Oliveira, is worried that “vaccine nationalism” and countries’ hoarding of vaccines will affect South Africa’s vaccine supply. However, Ron Whelan, director of the new crown working group at Discovery Limited, a medical insurance company, recently pointed out that South Africa actually has ample vaccine stocks, but serious vaccine hesitation, vaccine indifference, and structural obstacles (such as unable to afford to go to vaccination stations) are all problems. Affect the vaccination rate.
Must prevent vaccinated persons from “immune escape”
Vaccines are available, but experts are worried about “immune escape”. Abdul Karim is worried that more and more people in South Africa are vaccinated against coronavirus. Once AIDS patients are vaccinated but do not take AIDS drugs, the virus may mutate to the extent that it can escape the immune response triggered by the vaccine.
Therefore, in addition to KRISP closely tracking the virus variants, South Africa also actively sent people to visit the homes of AIDS patients.
(Ming Pao Comprehensive)