New Versions of the Coronavirus Worry Experts
2021-01-21
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The fight against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Reports of mutations are appearing quickly.
2Many scientists fear that a variant of the new coronavirus may appear that cannot be prevented by a known treatment or vaccine.
3The genes of the coronavirus are changing, and health officials say the high number of new cases is the main reason.
4Each new infection gives the virus a chance to mutate as it makes copies of itself.
5Each mutation threatens to undo the progress made in the last year of fighting the pandemic.
6On Friday, the World Health Organization urged more efforts to find new variants.
7The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a new variant first identified in Britain a few months ago might become the number one virus in the U.S. by March.
8It does not cause more severe illness, but it could cause more hospitalizations and deaths.
9The CDC warned of coming "exponential growth."
10"We're taking it really very seriously," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on American television Sunday.
11He is the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert.
12"We need to do everything we can now...to get transmission as low as we possibly can," said Harvard University's Dr. Michael Mina.
13He said that the best way to stop mutations is to slow the spread of the virus.
14So far, vaccines remain effective.
15There are, however, signs that some tests and drug treatments may not work with the new variants.
16The virus may create a mutation that makes it more dangerous, said Dr. Pardis Sabeti.
17She is an evolutionary biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
18For example, younger people may not be afraid of the virus because it does not make them very sick.
19That could change quickly, she warned.
20It is normal for viruses to mutate. A mutation that strengthens the virus helps it to survive by pushing out the weaker variants.
21Just a few months after the coronavirus was discovered in China, a mutation called D614G began to spread.
22It quickly became a major form of the virus.
23Trevor Bedford is a biologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
24Last week, he wrote on Twitter, now, "we've started to see some striking evolution" of the virus.
25New variants have also been found in South Africa and Brazil.
26A main mutation in the variant identified in Britain appears to be in another variant that was found in Ohio, said Dan Jones.
27He is a molecular pathologist at Ohio State University who announced that finding last week.
28This is important because it does not appear the mutation was created as the result of travel.
29Rather, the virus may mutate in the same way in different places, Jones said.
30That also means that travel restrictions might be ineffective, Mina said.
31Because the United States has so many cases, "we can breed our own variants that are just as bad or worse" as those in other countries, he said.
32Government scientists are "actively looking" into the possibility that variants found in South Africa and Brazil may be able to fight off antibody drugs and other treatments that can help people survive COVID-19, Dr. Janet Woodcock of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told reporters Thursday.
33Other scientists are not as worried. Dr. Andrew Pavia of the University of Utah said vaccines in use now should remain effective.
34They may need a small change to fight mutations.
35Even then, he said, "it's probably going to be on the order of years if we use the vaccine well rather than months."
36He was speaking Thursday on a webcast run by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
37I'm Susan Shand.
1The fight against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Reports of mutations are appearing quickly. 2Many scientists fear that a variant of the new coronavirus may appear that cannot be prevented by a known treatment or vaccine. 3The genes of the coronavirus are changing, and health officials say the high number of new cases is the main reason. Each new infection gives the virus a chance to mutate as it makes copies of itself. Each mutation threatens to undo the progress made in the last year of fighting the pandemic. 4On Friday, the World Health Organization urged more efforts to find new variants. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a new variant first identified in Britain a few months ago might become the number one virus in the U.S. by March. It does not cause more severe illness, but it could cause more hospitalizations and deaths. The CDC warned of coming "exponential growth." 5"We're taking it really very seriously," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on American television Sunday. He is the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert. 6"We need to do everything we can now...to get transmission as low as we possibly can," said Harvard University's Dr. Michael Mina. He said that the best way to stop mutations is to slow the spread of the virus. 7So far, vaccines remain effective. There are, however, signs that some tests and drug treatments may not work with the new variants. 8The virus may create a mutation that makes it more dangerous, said Dr. Pardis Sabeti. She is an evolutionary biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. 9For example, younger people may not be afraid of the virus because it does not make them very sick. That could change quickly, she warned. 10More reports of mutations 11It is normal for viruses to mutate. A mutation that strengthens the virus helps it to survive by pushing out the weaker variants. 12Just a few months after the coronavirus was discovered in China, a mutation called D614G began to spread. It quickly became a major form of the virus. 13Trevor Bedford is a biologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Last week, he wrote on Twitter, now, "we've started to see some striking evolution" of the virus. 14New variants have also been found in South Africa and Brazil. A main mutation in the variant identified in Britain appears to be in another variant that was found in Ohio, said Dan Jones. He is a molecular pathologist at Ohio State University who announced that finding last week. 15This is important because it does not appear the mutation was created as the result of travel. Rather, the virus may mutate in the same way in different places, Jones said. 16That also means that travel restrictions might be ineffective, Mina said. Because the United States has so many cases, "we can breed our own variants that are just as bad or worse" as those in other countries, he said. 17Treatment, vaccine, reinfection risks 18Government scientists are "actively looking" into the possibility that variants found in South Africa and Brazil may be able to fight off antibody drugs and other treatments that can help people survive COVID-19, Dr. Janet Woodcock of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told reporters Thursday. 19Other scientists are not as worried. Dr. Andrew Pavia of the University of Utah said vaccines in use now should remain effective. They may need a small change to fight mutations. 20Even then, he said, "it's probably going to be on the order of years if we use the vaccine well rather than months." He was speaking Thursday on a webcast run by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 21I'm Susan Shand. 22The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 23_______________________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25mutate - v. to cause a change that creates a different quality in a living thing 26variant - n. different in some way from others of the same kind 27exponential - adj. very fast, to a very great degree 28transmission - n. the process of something spreading, going from one place to another 29evolution - n. the process by which living things change over time 30pathologist - n. a part of medicine that seeks to find out causes 31We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.