Current Affairs
【冠状病毒19】冠病出现变种 淡马亚:传染力增强,致命性减

近期在欧洲、北美和亚洲一些地区,出现冠状病毒变种,不过传染病学亚太学会会长淡马亚教授认为,变种病毒可能传染性更强,但致命性或减少。
淡马亚是接受《路透社》采访时分析,若病毒致命性减少“或许是好事”。而一些研究和证据显示,有关变种病毒D614G在全球一些区域扩散,惟死亡率也相对下降,或许显示其致命性减少。
淡马亚也指出,大多数病毒在变异时,趋向降低其致命性(less virulent)。
他解释病毒的倾向就是尽可能传染更多人,但不是杀死宿主,因为病毒仍需仰赖宿主获养分和庇护。若夺走宿主性命,对病毒一点好处都没有。
而淡马亚相信,目前研发的疫苗,主要为攻击病毒词突蛋白的其他部分,所以614G并无太大区别,因此对疫苗研发影响不大。
就在前日,邻国马来西亚卫生机构预警,马国首次出现冠状病毒19变异毒株“D614G”,传播能力比一般毒株快10倍,呼吁民众警惕。
美国斯克里普斯研究所的病毒学家,最先发现上述变异毒株,若出现超级传播者会更容易传播。

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