France discovers a virus that can evade nucleic acid testing

France found a mutant virus that could evade nucleic acid testing. 8 patients with the first-found mutant new coronavirus had typical symptoms of infection, but their nasopharyngeal sample nucleic acid test (PCR test) was negative, and the nucleic acid test could not detect the new virus. Strain.

Why can this mutated new coronavirus evade nucleic acid testing? Yu Chuanhua, professor of epidemiology and health statistics at Wuhan University, told the Health Times reporter: “The S protein of the new mutant and other viral regions carry a total of 9 mutations. There may be two cases that cannot be found. One is that the amount of virus infection is low. It is not enough to detect or has entered the lungs, resulting in false negatives; second, the test result is negative or there may be too much mutation to detect."

The French General Administration of Health announced that a new variant of the new coronavirus has been found in the hospital in Raney, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France. As early as February 22, a cluster infection was discovered inside a company in Brittany. Three weeks later, Rani used the hospital to diagnose a total of 79 patients in this cluster infection, of which 8 cases carried the first-detected mutant new coronavirus.

Although these 8 patients had typical symptoms of infection, their nasopharyngeal sample nucleic acid test (PCR test) results were negative. Later, after further genetic testing by the Pasteur Institute, a new mutant new coronavirus was found in the sample. The new mutant strain's S protein and other viral regions carried a total of 9 mutations.

Based on preliminary data, French health authorities have not yet been able to determine whether the new variant is more contagious and whether it will cause more serious infections. The French health authorities conducted an investigation to assess the spread and severity of the new strain and it has been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Yu Chuanhua told the Health Times reporter: “The new coronavirus pneumonia virus is a single-stranded RNA virus, which has stronger variability than ordinary DNA viruses. The symptoms themselves after infection by the new coronavirus are more complicated, and are related to the person’s age, physical condition, and underlying diseases Various factors are related."

Yu Chuanhua mentioned that if the new mutant strain can escape detection, it means that it may spread to other areas without being detected.

Philip Frogier, a geneticist and endocrinologist at the Medical Center in Lille, France, said in an interview with French News Radio that it will take longer to determine whether the mutated new coronavirus is more contagious and lethal. Today It is not yet possible to make a light assertion about the mutant virus discovered in Brittany. It is surprising that it cannot be detected by a nucleic acid test, and special research is needed for this. Caution should be exercised on the mutant new coronaviruses found in Brittany.