Experts surprised by C.1.2 mutations but say it might not be different from other variants. (Photo by Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images)
Genomic surveillance experts from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the Kwa-Zulu Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp) have released a preprint paper on the discovery of C.1.2, a new variant of SARS-Cov-2, commonly known as Covid-19.
The findings of the research are yet to be peer-reviewed, but according to the researchers the new sequences of the virus were found to have mutated “substantially” and were unexpected.
What is currently known?
Variant C.1.2 was first detected in May in Gauteng and Mpumalanga and by 13 August it had appeared in six of South Africa’s nine provinces and seven other countries within Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Currently classified as a potential variant of interest, C.1.2 mutated from the Pango lineage C.1, which was detected in January this year. But unlike other previously identified variants, C.1.2 was found to have mutated beyond C.1 and other variants of concern as well as the variants of interest. The mutations were found to have been between 45 to 59 mutations away from the original Wuhan Hu-1 virus.
“Variant C.1.2 has got more mutations than many of the variants circulating globally, some of which we haven’t seen before,” said Dr Cathrine Scheepers from the NICD.
Krisp infectious diseases specialist Dr Richard Lessells said variant C.1.2 was being actively monitored mainly because its concerning mix of mutations might help the virus to spread more easily and partially evade immune response.
“It is genetically distinct from the Beta and Delta variants that dominated the second and third waves respectively, but it shares some of the same mutations, just in a different mix. So we are now working hard to understand how this affects the behaviour of the virus,” Lessells said.
Is variant C.1.2 a variant of concern?
Despite these surprising and rapid mutations, C.1.2 has currently not been classified as a variant of concern like the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants which were responsible for the various waves of Covid-19 infections, with Delta showing to be highly transmissible and dominant globally.
“It has not been classified as a VOC [variant of concern] since we still are only seeing it in very low numbers globally,” Scheepers said.
Because variant C.1.2 has got the potential to become a variant of concern due to its multiple mutations and the possibility of it evading immune responses, work is being done to determine whether the current vaccines being administered in South Africa will be effective against it.
“Work needs to be done to fully understand [the behaviour of the variant], but what we have seen so far, and what we would expect with this variant, is that the [current] vaccines retain high levels of protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death,” Lessells said, adding that administering vaccines was key, as were non-pharmaceutical interventions.
Scheepers said there was no need for the public to panic about the C.1.2 variant.
“Right now there isn’t any evidence to suggest that it would be any different from other variants that are currently circulating in South Africa, though we are continuing to monitor this virus,” she said. “ We do know that non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the wearing of masks, sanitizing and washing your hands and keeping a safe distance from people work against this virus irrespective of the variant. So people should continue to do so. We also highly recommend people to get vaccinated to protect against severe disease.”
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