It is easier to identify strains of coronavirus infection in Siberia than in the European part of Russia due to the low mobility of the population, and mutations themselves are more likely to occur in the bodies of people with reduced immunity. Albert Rizvanov, director of the Scientific and Clinical Center for Precision and Regenerative Medicine of the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology of the Kazan Federal University, told Izvestia about this on Monday, April 19.
Thus, he commented on the detection of Siberian and northwestern strains of coronavirus in Russia.
“For example, among people living in Siberia, mobility is quite low, they constantly live in the same territory, and it is easier to identify mutant strains there than in such highly mobile regions as the European part of Russia,” the specialist noted.
Mutations as a phenomenon, he said, are aimed at making the spread of the virus from one person to another faster. Strains like the Siberian and Northwestern ones have the advantage and, over time, supersede the usual ones.
“Often they arise in the bodies of people with reduced immunity, since the virus stays in their bodies longer and has the ability to increase its infectivity,” concluded Rizvanov.
Earlier, on Monday, the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova announced the formation of new strains of coronavirus in Russia – Siberian and Northwest.
The head of the MIPT genomic engineering laboratory, Pavel Volchkov, in turn, expressed the opinion that the emergence of new strains of COVID-19 in Russia is logical. He stressed that in a region where there is no intensive communication with other zones, during a pandemic, the virus will evolve and move away from the original, “Wuhan” variant.
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