Researchers find new Covid strain to be more dangerous: report

Using Covid-19 samples from an immunosuppressed person over a six-month period, a South African laboratory investigation revealed that the virus mutated to become more pathogenic, suggesting that a new variety could cause more illness than the present prevalent omicron strain.

A person who was HIV-positive provided samples for the study, which was carried out by the same lab that was going to test the omicron strain against vaccinations for the first time last year. Over the course of six months, the virus initially caused the same degree of cell fusion and death as the omicron BA.1 strain, but as it progressed, those levels increased to resemble the original Covid-19 discovered in Wuhan, China.

The Covid-19 pathogen may continue to mutate, and a new version may cause more serious sickness and death than the comparatively mild omicron strain, according to a study led by Alex Sigal at the Africa Health Research Institute in the South African city of Durban. The study, which is primarily based on laboratory work on samples from one person, has not yet undergone peer review.

According to the researchers' findings, which were published on Nov. 24, the study "may indicate that SARS-CoV-2 evolution in long-term infection does not have to result in attenuation." It might suggest that a future variant might be more pathogenic than the Omicron strains that are now in transit.