As several countries including India are battling the deadly second wave of coronavirus, a new study has suggested that the Brazilian variant of Covid-19 is more transmissible compared to other variants of the virus. The study report revealed that the Brazilian variant also known as P1 could be capable of evading immunity gained from infection with other strains.
Brazilian Covid variant: A matter of concern
The study led by researchers from the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the University of Copenhagen suggested that the Brazilian variant of coronavirus is very aggressive, and it is the main reason behind the sudden surge in Covid cases in Brazil.
"Our analysis shows that P1 emerged in Manaus around November 2020. It went from not being detectable in our genetic samples to account for 87 percent of the positive samples in just seven weeks. It has since spread to several other states in Brazil as well as many other countries around the world," said Samir Bhatt, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen.
According to the study report, the Brazilian coronavirus variant is likely to evade between 10 and 46 percent of the immunity gained from infection of other variants of Covid.
Coronavirus: Latest updates
India and Brazil are the two countries that currently face the heat of coronavirus second wave. According to the latest updates, the covid second wave, triggered by double and triple mutant variants is spreading like wildfire in India. On April 28, India witnessed more than 3,79,000 coronavirus positive cases, and 3,645 deaths. Even though the country is gearing up with the third phase of vaccination rollout, the rising Covid cases in the country is crunching the health infrastructure. On the other hand, Brazil reported more than 77,000 Covid positive cases on April 28, while 3,018 people succumbed to the virus on the same day.
