New, more virulent mutations of the British variant of coronavirus were found in Ukraine, the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics reported on March 22.
Samples were taken from 17 COVID-19 patients in Ivano-Frankivsk, one of the worst-hit regions of the country, and two patients in Kyiv. The mutated variant was found in all of them.
Compared with the variant first identified in England in December 2020, the institute wrote that there are “critical changes” in parts of the virus responsible for its rate of replication in cells and how the immune system responds to it.
The researchers believe that the combinations of the British coronavirus strains led to the current wave of the pandemic in Ukraine, with more severe outcomes for patients and increased reinfection rates.
Mykhailo Tukalo, the director of the institute, talked about “a dangerous trend” where new mutated strains of the British variant are replacing previous strains of coronavirus, with which many Ukrainians have already been infected.
According to the institute, World Health Organization representatives have agreed with its researchers’ conclusions and warned of the emergence of other, even more dangerous variants of the disease, which are being found in neighboring European countries.
