(Dan Tri) – A South African scientist who discovered the Omicron strain has proposed a new hypothesis about `patient zero` in which this unprecedented multi-mutant strain may have appeared.
Africa is becoming a global focus after Omicron infections appeared here (Illustration: Reuters).
LA Times reported that Mr. Tulio de Oliveira, director of the South African disease response center, raised the suspicion that this variant could have used the body of a person with an immunodeficiency disease, for example
Mr. Oliveira is one of the scientists who discovered and published information about the Omicron strain.
Patients with immunodeficiency diseases have in common that it is difficult to quickly eliminate the virus when it enters the body, and this poses a risk that the virus has the opportunity to continuously mutate over time.
Previously, researchers in the US and Europe discovered dangerous variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Covid-19 patients whose natural immune systems were affected by cancer drugs and preventative drugs.
For many months, Mr. Oliveira has warned that the sub-Saharan region is at risk of becoming a breeding ground for SARS-CoV-2 variants because there are about 8 million people infected with HIV without being recorded.
Hazard
In June, his team documented the appearance of more than 30 genetic mutations in a SARS-CoV-2 sample from a South African woman with severe, uncontrolled HIV infection.
Now, Mr. Oliveira fears that a similar scenario may have occurred leading to the emergence of Omicron in Gauteng province.
Gauteng province is considered one of the epicenters of HIV in South Africa as it accounts for about 20% of the 7.5 million people in South Africa living with HIV.
In South Africa, there are about 2.2 million people infected with HIV who are unaware, untreated or poorly treated.
`If I had to guess, I would say this could be how Omicron was born,` expert Li said, emphasizing the unprecedented high number of mutations in this strain.
Dr. Bruce Walker, an immunologist and founding director of the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, cautioned people against discriminating against patients whose conditions could give rise to SARS-CoV variants.
In an article published in Nature magazine on December 2, Mr. Oliveira and three South African colleagues said that if major countries do not help African countries in controlling both HIV and Covid-19, it will
Nearly 40% of the global population has been fully vaccinated, but this rate in Africa is only 7%.
In addition to the hypothesis that Omicron appears in people with weakened immune systems, Mr. de Olivera also proposed another explanation that could be the reason why a record number of mutations have appeared.
It’s possible that Omicron has been spreading somewhere for months and accumulating genetic changes.