National Health Commission: Our national defense control strategy is still effective against Omi Keron mutant

Recently, a mutant strain of the new crown virus Omi Keron has aroused great social concern

Question: What is the discovery and prevalence of Omi Keron mutants?

Answer: On November 9, 2021, South Africa detected a B.

As of November 28, South Africa, Israel, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Hong Kong, China, have monitored the input of this mutant strain

Question: What are the possible reasons for the appearance of Omi Keron mutants?

Answer: According to the information currently shared by the new coronavirus database GISAID, the number of mutation sites in the Omi Keron mutant strain is significantly greater than that of all the new coronavirus mutant strains that have been circulating in the past two years, especially in the virus spike (Spike) protein mutations.

It is speculated that the reasons for its emergence may be the following three situations: (1) After the immunodeficiency patients are infected with the new coronavirus, they have undergone a long period of evolution in the body to accumulate a large number of mutations, which are transmitted by chance; (2) a certain animal group infection New coronavirus, the virus undergoes adaptive evolution during the spread of animal populations, and the mutation rate is higher than that of humans, and then spills into humans; (3) This mutant strain has continued to circulate for a long time in countries or regions where the mutation monitoring of the new coronavirus genome is underdeveloped.

Q: Is the Omi Keron mutant strong in spreading?

Answer: At present, there is no systematic research data on the transmission, pathogenicity and immune escape ability of Omi Keron variants in the world, but Omi Keron variants also have the first 4 VOC variants Alpha, Beta, and Gamma The important amino acid mutation sites of Ma and Delta spike protein include mutation sites that enhance cell receptor affinity and virus replication ability

Epidemiological and laboratory monitoring data show that the number of cases of Omi Keron variants in South Africa has increased significantly, and has partially replaced the delta variants.

　　Q: Does the Omi Keron variant affect vaccines and antibody drugs?

　　Answer: Studies have shown that the presence of K417N, E484A or N501Y mutations in the S protein of the new coronavirus suggests that the immune escape ability is enhanced; while the Omi Keron mutant strain also has a triple mutation of "K417N+E484A+N501Y"; in addition, the Omi Keron mutation The strain also has many other mutations that may reduce the neutralizing activity of some monoclonal antibodies

　　Question: Does the Omi Keron variant affect the nucleic acid detection reagents currently used in my country?

　　Answer: The genome analysis of the Omi Keron mutant strain shows that its mutation site does not affect the sensitivity and specificity of mainstream nucleic acid detection reagents in China

　　Question: What measures have been taken by relevant countries and regions?

　　Answer: In view of the rapid prevalence of Omi Keron mutants in South Africa, many countries and regions including the United States, Britain, the European Union, Russia, Israel, Taiwan and Hong Kong have restricted the entry of visitors from southern Africa

　　Q: What is the WHO recommendation for the Omi Keron variant?

　　Answer: WHO recommends that countries strengthen the surveillance, reporting and research of the new coronavirus, and take effective public health measures to stop the spread of the virus; it is recommended that individuals take effective infection prevention measures, including keeping a distance of at least 1 meter in public places, wearing masks, Open windows for ventilation, keep your hands clean, cough or sneeze into your elbows or tissues, vaccinate, etc.