British scientists from the University of Cambridge concluded that the emergence of new mutations of coronavirus may be due to the use of blood plasma from those who had been ill in the treatment of patients with this disease. This is stated in the results of an initial study presented in an article on the Nature website.
“Treatment with COVID-19 antibodies appears to induce mutations in SARS-CoV-2, which affects a person with a weakened immune system,” the report said.
Scientists came to such conclusions while studying the medical history of one patient with COVID-19, who was treated with antibodies. In mid-2020, the man was hospitalized with coronavirus.
A patient with COVID-19 was treated with two courses of the antiviral drug remdesivir, followed by two courses of blood plasma with antibodies from people who recovered from this disease. The patient died 102 days after being hospitalized.
Cambridge University researcher Ravindra Gupta and his colleagues analyzed viral genomes obtained from this individual during his illness. The scientists found that, after treatment with remdesivir, the viral counts in his blood did not change much. However, after each course of plasma treatment, viruses with a pair of specific mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, the primary target of the immune system, were affected in the patient’s samples.
Tests have shown that one of the mutations weakens the activity of antibodies in the convalescent plasma, but also reduces the infection of the virus. Another mutation renews the infection of the virus.
According to the authors of the scientific work, the possibility of viral evolution means that the plasma of those found should be used with caution in the treatment of people with weakened immune systems.
Note that, at present, the most notable mutations of the coronavirus are British, Brazilian, South African rays. They are thought to be more infectious than the regular version of Covid-19.
Anyway, the WHO earlier detected five mutations of the coronavirus in Ukraine.