The new variants of the coronavirus are even more dangerous than those known so far. Researchers and politicians fear a sharp increase in the number of infections, with dramatic consequences like those seen in Britain. Can Germany still stop the new killers?
The student didn’t really stand out among the nearly 700 cases of the coronavirus recorded by the public health department in Berlin’s Steglitz-Zehlendorf district during the week before Christmas. The young woman was home for the holidays to visit her family, having traveled back to Germany from the university where she is studying in the United Kingdom. It appeared to be an everyday case of the coronavirus in the affluent southern part of Berlin.
Indeed, it wasn’t all that surprising she had caught the virus, given that infection numbers were skyrocketing in Britain at that point.
But the student also infected her entire family, five people, which is pretty uncommon.
Just as her infection was discovered, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had begun sounding the alarm: B.1.1.7, the new and far more contagious variant of the virus, was spreading in southeast England, he warned. The response came quickly: Flights to and from Britain were cancelled and the Eurotunnel was closed to traffic. By then, though, the mutated virus had long since begun spreading across Europe.
It was by coincidence that an employee at the Steglitz-Zehlendorf public health department had experienced the ebola pandemic in West Africa and had also earned a doctorate in virology. Shortly before Christmas, she made a call to the laboratory at the Robert Koch-Institute (RKI), Germany’s center for disease control, and asked to have the genome sequence of the student’s positive viral sample decoded.
The result arrived on Jan. 7. The student was found to be carrying the new B.1.1.7 variant of the virus.
Then, last week, the first case of B.1.351, a mutant of the coronavirus from South Africa, was detected in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg. It’s also thought to be much more contagious than previous variants. It had been brought into the state by a family that had arrived back from South Africa in mid-December.
The family had quarantined themselves as required under coronavirus regulations, and five days later they received a negative result after getting tested. But family members developed symptoms of the disease a week later. By then, six people from three different households had been infected.
In the neighboring state of Bavaria, there are also now three confirmed cases of coronavirus mutants and one suspected case. One patient who had become infected with the British variant was brought to a Munich hospital for treatment around the New Year has since passed away.
“The new variant of the virus has arrived in Germany,” says Clemens Wendtner, chief physician at the München Klinik hospital in Munich’s Schwabing district. It must be a feeling of déjà-vu for the physician, who also treated the very first known German COVID-19 patients last February. “The next few weeks will be decisive,” Wendtner says. “It’s possible that the pandemic will take on a whole new momentum.”
Image Credit: Phill Magakoe/AFP
Post by Amanda Scott, NA CEO. Follow her on twitter @tantriclens
Thanks to Heinz V. Hoenen. Follow him on twitter: @HeinzVHoenen
News
New Research Reveals That Your Sense of Smell May Be Smarter Than You Think
A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience indicates that the sense of smell is significantly influenced by cues from other senses, whereas the senses of sight and hearing are much less affected. A popular [...]
Deadly bacteria show thirst for human blood: the phenomenon of bacterial vampirism
Some of the world's deadliest bacteria seek out and feed on human blood, a newly-discovered phenomenon researchers are calling "bacterial vampirism." A team led by Washington State University researchers has found the bacteria are [...]
Organ Architects: The Remarkable Cells Shaping Our Development
Finding your way through the winding streets of certain cities can be a real challenge without a map. To orient ourselves, we rely on a variety of information, including digital maps on our phones, [...]
Novel hydrogel removes microplastics from water
Microplastics pose a great threat to human health. These tiny plastic debris can enter our bodies through the water we drink and increase the risk of illnesses. They are also an environmental hazard; found [...]
Researchers Discover New Origin of Deep Brain Waves
Understanding hippocampal activity could improve sleep and cognition therapies. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine’s biomedical engineering department have discovered a new origin for two essential brain waves—slow waves and sleep spindles—that are critical for [...]
The Lifelong Cost of Surviving COVID: Scientists Uncover Long-Term Effects
Many of the individuals released to long-term acute care facilities suffered from conditions that lasted for over a year. Researchers at UC San Francisco studied COVID-19 patients in the United States who survived some of the longest and [...]
Previously Unknown Rogue Immune Key to Chronic Viral Infections Discovered
Scientists discovered a previously unidentified rogue immune cell linked to poor antibody responses in chronic viral infections. Australian researchers have discovered a previously unknown rogue immune cell that can cause poor antibody responses in [...]
Nature’s Betrayal: Unmasking Lead Lurking in Herbal Medicine
A case of lead poisoning due to Ayurvedic medicine use demonstrates the importance of patient history in diagnosis and the need for public health collaboration to prevent similar risks. An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association [...]
Frozen in Time: How a DNA Anomaly Misled Scientists for Centuries
An enormous meteor spelled doom for most dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But not all. In the aftermath of the extinction event, birds — technically dinosaurs themselves — flourished. Scientists have spent centuries trying [...]
‘Mini kidneys’ reveal new insights into metabolic defects in polycystic kidney disease
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have successfully grown 'mini kidneys' in the lab and grafted them into live mice, revealing new insights into the metabolic defects and a potential therapy for [...]
Decoding the Origin of Life: Scientists Solve Early Earth RNA Puzzle
Recent research illustrates how RNA molecules’ chemical characteristics might have played a crucial role in the development of complex life forms. How did complex life manage to evolve on the early, inhospitable Earth? Initially, [...]
Improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles
By harnessing the power of composite polymer particles adorned with gold nanoparticles, a group of researchers have delivered a more accurate means of testing for infectious diseases. Details of their research was published in the [...]
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells
Researchers have developed micromaterials made up only of proteins, capable of delivering over an extended period of time nanoparticles that attack specific cancer cells and destroy them. The micromaterials mimic natural secretory granules found [...]
Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Scientists Make Revolutionary Leap
Dementia is a major health issue worldwide in the 21st century, impacting over 50 million people globally. This figure is expected to soar to 152 million by 2050, as the global population ages. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [...]
How small RNA molecules regulate viral infections of bacteria
Viruses need hosts. Whether it's measles, the flu or coronavirus, viral pathogens cannot multiply or infect other organisms without the assistance of their hosts' cellular infrastructure. However, humans are not the only ones affected [...]
Computer scientists discover gap in the latest security mechanisms used by some chips
Over the past few years, hardware manufacturers have developed technologies that ought to make it possible for companies and governmental organizations to process sensitive data securely using shared cloud computing resources. Known as confidential [...]