The novel coronavirus has mutated into two strains following the start of the outbreak in December according to a new study.
As Chinese scientists who examined 103 samples of the virus found out, the novel coronavirus has mutated into at least two strains since December.
According to the team of researchers from Shanghai and Beijing, 70% of the patients have contracted the ‘L’ strain of the virus which mutated from the ‘S’ strain, the oldest strain of the virus.
While the S strain is less aggressive and less dangerous, the L strain spreads quicker and is more likely to cause serious health complications.
According to the Peking University study, the aggressive strain was more present during the initial phases of the outbreak in Wuhan, whereas the older strain is now gradually spreading over the world.
Since the researchers only examined 103 samples, more studies are required to confirm these claims and find out if there are other strains of the virus.
As experts have also suggested, it is normal for viruses to mutate after hopping from animals to humans.
In addition, they have pointed out that more aggressive strains of viruses often put themselves out by landing large numbers of people in the hospital or quarantine.
Similarly, viruses that are less severe typically get carried around for longer, meaning that they have better chances of gradually infecting more people.
“Whereas the L type was more prevalent in the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, the frequency of the L type decreased after early January 2020,” the team of scientists led by Dr. Jie Cui and Professor Jian Lu wrote in their paper.
“Human intervention may have placed more severe selective pressure on the L type, which might be more aggressive and spread more quickly.
“On the other hand, the S type, which is evolutionarily older and less aggressive, might have increased in relative frequency due to relatively weaker selective pressure.”
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Replaced!