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ARCHIVED - Spain approves coronavirus genome sequencing protocols to monitor spread of variants
Madrid and Cantabria report far greater incidences of the British strain than the national government
Concerns continue to grow in Spain over the potential threat posed by the British, Brazilian and South African variants of Covid-19 and the probable emergence of other mutations in the course of the coming months, and in the light of this the Ministry of Public Health in the Spanish government has approved protocols to monitor the spread and virulence of such strains.
The objective is to standardize genome sequencing procedures regarding SARS-CoV-2 in order to gather more comprehensive and reliable data and to determine which variations are associated with higher rates of infection or greater virulence, as well as any which are resistant to the antibodies generated by the human body. In order to do so a network of laboratories will be established where genome sequencing is performed and standardized procedures will be coordinated by the national Epidemiological Vigilance System.
At the moment, samples are all being sent to Madrid, an inefficient and slow process which is not providing information as rapidly as some regional health authorities would like it to.
The aim is to routinely test samples taken via PCR testing to establish the sequencing of the variants circulating in Spain.
The spread of the British variant
In the meantime, it appears that the “British strain” of the virus is already on its way to becoming the dominant one in various parts of the country, and specialists at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona report that it is now being transmitted within the region of Catalunya rather than being “imported” from elsewhere.
This is the variant first identified in a Kent laboratory in the UK, hence the name “British variant“ or “UK variant”, which lies behind the significant surge in UK cases and lockdown which was made public by the British Government in December.
Although France immediately locked down its ports, by this point hundreds of travellers from the UK had taken advantage of a 2-week window between travel bans to drive through France into Spain without the need for a PCR test, some of them bringing the variant with them. In other cases, PCR tests had given a negative result, but travellers developed symptoms after arriving in Spain, as obviously it’s perfectly possible to contract the virus in the 72 hour window between taking a PCR test and travelling. In most instances, the first variants detected were found in people who had travelled from the UK as described above during this time period, although later detections of the variant have been secondary infections.
In the Campo de Gibralter, the variant is believed to have arrived via Gibraltar and was first detected in faecal waters in Granada on December 17th, before the British Government made its announcement.
On Monday Moderna and Pfizer both reported that their vaccines were effective against the British and South African strains, but they are slightly less protective against the South African variant which is believed to be more adept at dodging antibodies in the bloodstream, but of course that does not necessarily apply to other potential mutations in the future.
Moderna has begun work to develop a new form of its vaccine with the possibility of using this as a booster shot against the South African variant and will undertake testing to see if a third shot of its original vaccine can be used as a booster against the new variants.
Fernando Simón, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, remains adamant that there is not yet any “solid scientific evidence” that the British variant is more virulent or dangerous and maintains that there are currently only 219 cases in which the strain has been confirmed in Spain. He also maintains that although there is considerable variation from region to region the strain is present in only 5 per cent of the country, although in the northern region of Cantabria the head of the Public Health department reports that the proportion of cases involving this variant has risen from 14 per cent to almost 25 per cent over the last three weeks.
Last week, however, he did state that he believed the variant would become the dominant strain in Spain by mid-March, answering criticism from regional governments that are attributing a surge in new cases to the presence of the variant that the threat posed is being down-played by the national government.
Similarly, in the region of Madrid the sharp recent rise in case numbers is attributed not only to increased socialization over the Christmas and New Year holidays but also to the arrival of the British strain, and regional Health service spokesmen estimate that the B.1.1.7 strain now accounts for 9 per cent of all new cases. Regional government spokesman Antonio Zapatero adds that in different health areas the proportions range from 7 per cent to 33 per cent, and that during February it is likely to become the dominant type of coronavirus in and around the national capital.
The arrival of this version of the virus, he adds, may help to explain why the enforced confinement of people to their homes during the heavy snowfall and extreme cold a fortnight or so ago failed to curb the spread of the pandemic, although, this is not provable by scientific means and should not be confused with the political messaging of the regional government of Madrid.
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