The assumption of American scientists that the coronavirus, due to a new mutation, is able to spread faster through the air, is erroneous or misinterpreted. The head of the laboratory of especially dangerous infections of the Federal Research Center for Fundamental and Translational Medicine, Professor of Virology Alexander Chepurnov told RBC about this.
Earlier, The New York Times, citing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States, reported that the scientists of the institute came to the conclusion that a new mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus allows it to spread faster through the air.
“From misperception and inaccurate translation begins the assumption that mutations lead to such a change in the virus that it begins to become smaller and better penetrate. But this is impossible, such mutations of the virus are impossible that would somehow affect the size of the virus, “Chepurnov said.
He also explained that coronavirus, such as its British strain, is the most infectious due to the larger number of particles of the virus that are produced in humans and released when they breathe. “The situation in the delta is even worse for us, it has become much better and denser to sit on the receptors through which the virus enters the human cell. The delta strain began to attach better to this receptor. He began to infect people who have little of this receptor due to physical reasons, ”he explained.
According to him, due to the new features of the mutations of the coronavirus, it spreads more easily inside the infected organism and captures a larger number of cells, as a result of which the severity of the disease sets in faster, “literally in 4-5 days.”
“The NYT article contains vague phrases that give people the misconception that a virus mutates particles. This is not true. The exhaled particle depends on the person, on the individual: the physical structure leads to the fact that the size composition of the exhaled aerosol is specific and constantly changes due to the physiological state of a person – maybe he drank tea or ate soup, or even wants to drink, ”the expert added and noted that in the article of the American newspaper “everything is dumped in one heap.”
Infectionist, Doctor of Medical Sciences Nikolai Malyshev also stressed to RBC that despite the constant mutations of COVID-19, they are not associated with size. “Mutations are constantly going on, as a result, it turns out that mutations remain that are more conducive to the spread of the virus, they are more adapted. This fitness has nothing to do with size, ”he said.
According to him, the spread of the disease occurs as a result of better adaptation of the virus, as a result of “stronger” mutations, regardless of size.
Earlier, US scientists from Maryland also conducted a study that showed that with the alpha variant of coronavirus, the amount of viral RNA in the exhaled air increases compared to earlier strains. Those who contracted the alpha strain exhaled approximately 100 times more viral particles, experts found. “This really indicates that the virus is evolving and is more efficiently airborne,” said Lynsey Marr, an expert virologist at Virginia Institute of Technology. She believes that studies of cases of infection with the “delta” strain will give a similar result.
COVID is transmitted by airborne droplets: droplets released by a sick person, for example, when coughing, sneezing or communicating, enter the respiratory tract of a healthy person, and he becomes infected. You can also get infected by touching the infected surface, and then to the mucous membranes. The mechanism of infection was described, among other things, by the World Health Organization.
Last spring, American scientists clarified that COVID-19 can stay in the air for up to three hours after a patient coughs or sneezes, and on surfaces it can keep life for a day or more. In particular, on plastic surfaces and stainless steel, the virus is viable for several days.
