After the emergence of different Covid-19 variants, such as the British, South African, and even the Breton variants, we now have the Brazilian variant P1, which is more contagious and is causing a lot of concern among the global population.
More contagious, the Brazilian variant P1 is still largely unknown but raises many concerns that have led to serious consequences as well as new political measures. For example, the French government recently suspended flights to and from Brazil until further notice.
The Emergence of a More Contagious Variant
Emerging last December in the Manaus region (Amazon), the Brazilian variant was first identified as a new variant in January in Japan, in travelers who had visited northern Brazil.
Like its South African counterpart, the Brazilian variant carries the E484K mutation, which can lead to more reinfections than other strains. Several deletions are present in the Spike protein, through which the virus enters cells to infect them.
“It’s a bit like a master key that manages to open several locks at once.” explains Jesem Orellana, a researcher at the Fiocruz institute, to AFP. “And from an epidemiological perspective, this variant is more likely to destabilize regions where there is little control over the virus’s spread, causing hospital saturation.” he adds.
Dangerous but Not Necessarily More Deadly
Despite its status as a Covid-19 variant, no conclusive study has yet been published to confirm that the P1 variant is more deadly than others. A greater number of antibodies would still be necessary to resist it.
According to some studies, Jesem Orellana noted that the P1 variant did not result in a higher mortality rate among hospitalized patients in Manaus, compared to the peak of the first epidemic wave last April.
The Health Situation in Brazil
If the number of victims and contact cases has skyrocketed in Brazil in recent weeks, it is due to hospital saturation, “because this variant is more contagious, but also due to a relaxation of the population, which adheres less to restriction measures.”
The P1 variant remains dangerous but not more so than others. Even though it has spread throughout the Brazilian territory, it is impossible to determine its percentage in Covid-19-related infections.
According to Brazilian microbiologist Natália Pasternak, the best solution to prevent the situation from worsening further would be to “combine lockdown and mass vaccination” in Brazil, which has become “an open-air laboratory for variants” according to Orellana.
