Singapore researchers find coronavirus variant with milder infections

According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal scientists in Singapore have found a new variant of the COVID-19 which causes milder infections. The study revealed that the COVID-19 patients contaminated with another variation of SARS-CoV-2 would do well to clinical results, including a lower proportion developing low blood oxygen or requiring intensive care. The study also found the variant, which has a large deletion in a part of its genome, elicited a more robust immune response. 
The new study was conducted by researchers from different Singapore institutions, including the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), the Duke-NUS Medical School and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. 

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Genetic change affects severity

Gavin Smith at Duke-NUS said, "These studies provide the first convincing data showing that an observed genetic change (mutation) in SARS-CoV-2 has affected the severity of disease in patients".

The researchers said the discoveries had implications for vaccine development and treatments for COVID-19. The variant likely came from Wuhan, China was detected in a cluster of infections during the period from January to March 2020. The virus spread from person-to-person across several clusters before being contained in Singapore. 

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Meanwhile, researchers have found that coronavirus patients with mild symptoms develop an immune response that lasts for months and even longer, as opposed to earlier studies that suggested antibodies disappear just after recovery. The study conducted in China on 349 COVID-19 patients, the immune response lasted for six months regardless of illness severity. The study is yet to be reviewed by peer groups, which would give it legitimacy. In a similar study conducted in the United States, scientists discovered that defences created by the immune system in COVID-19 patients appeared even after three months of recovery. 

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