San Diego Reports 2nd Confirmed Infection Of New Coronavirus Variant In US
Speaker 1: 00:00 Officials say the San Diego man diagnosed with California's first case of the COVID virus. Variant is observing quarantine, but they are still concerned that the strain is already out there in our community. Here's Dr. Christian Anderson of Scripps research whose lab identified the variant Speaker 2: 00:18 Detected this lineage, but we knew because of travel patterns and because of how prevalent it is in other parts of the world, we knew that this was also something we were going to find here in San Diego is only a question of when we have now found that first case. Again, the case had no history of travel. So we know there's more, we don't know how many Speaker 1: 00:37 The variant was first detected in this country in Colorado, after circulating widely in great Britain, causing a new lockdown for much of that nation, UC San Diego and scripts researchers were key to identifying the variant strain and they continue to process samples of the virus searching for any sign of the virus mutation. Johnnie Mae is Dr. Davy Smith, chief of infectious diseases and global public health at UC San Diego. Dr. Smith. Welcome. Speaker 3: 01:04 Thank you. It's good to be here. What do we Speaker 1: 01:07 Know about that variant called [inaudible]? How is it different from the original virus? Speaker 3: 01:13 Yeah, so there's a few mutations, uh, that are a little suspect. They occur at the protein of the virus called the spike protein, and that's the protein that engages the virus to be able to infect the cell. So if there was a mutation that allowed the virus to become more infectious, more transmissible than it would be most likely to occur at that spike protein. So when we saw those mutations occurring at this very specific protein where like a hot, maybe the virus is evolving to better infect us, Speaker 1: 01:45 Is it difficult to distinguish between the two strains of the virus? What's the process? Speaker 3: 01:51 Yeah. So the way that we distinguish between the two, uh, strains is we take the sequence. We have to sequence all of the different viruses that are out there and, uh, Christian Anderson's lab and others across the world are doing exactly this. So every time we get a new case of coronavirus and we get it to the right lab, we can sequence it. And once we know the sequence of the virus, then we can compare it to all the other sequences. And there's a, there's a really good, uh, software now that we can look and see what the differences are. Speaker 1: 02:21 Variant is described as more contagious. What exactly does that mean? Speaker 3: 02:25 So this is all from epidemiologic studies. We just, in the UK, they saw that they had this new variant and it had these specific mutations that the protein that thought maybe it was more transmissible or infectious. And then they also saw that more people were getting that variant than other people getting the other variant. So then that meant that, uh, we could suspect that that variant was most was more transmissible than other variants. However, uh, it could be that the virus was just in the right place at the right time. It came in, it, there was a bunch of susceptible people there and it spread very quickly amongst those susceptible people. So it looked like it was more infectious when in fact it just happened to be at the right place at the right time. So there's still more studies that need to be done to determine whether or not that variant is actually more infectious. Speaker 1: 03:17 How did Britain discover the variant? Have they been doing testing and sequencing that we have not? Speaker 3: 03:25 No, no. We we've been doing the sequencing. They've been doing the sequencing people in China, every place around the world has been sequencing their variants. And we've been looking specifically at the different mutation patterns that have been occurring and they identified this new variant and it happened to start to rise in the number of the proportion of the number of cases. And they're like a HOD. This might be a variant that has become a more evolved, uh, for us. Right? So since jumping from a bat in the humans, the virus is trying to figure out how best to infect us. And perhaps, uh, this mutation is one of those ways that the virus is learning Speaker 1: 04:03 Have been complaints though that the U S is not testing these viruses as much as other countries have in there. Speaker 3: 04:10 Oh, for sure. Uh, so to be, to be honest, uh, this, uh, strain that we found here in San Diego was done by academic labs, right. Um, and not by, um, the CDC or, uh, governmental agencies, it's it, it's going to require all of us, but, uh, for sure we're not been, we have not been testing enough from the very beginning. And we haven't been doing enough of this sequence surveillance that the text, these sorts of mutations and detects when these new variants, uh, come up, Speaker 1: 04:42 What are UC San Diego researchers doing to search for more possible cases of the variant? Speaker 3: 04:49 Good question. So we were doing the regular surveillance of people when they become infected. We, uh, sequence, uh, we collect that virus, we isolate it. Then we sequence it. We also can go back and test it in a lab. And that's, what's going on now to see if it's more infectious in a, in a, in a Petri dish, so to speak. Um, then the other thing is to actually for this particular case is to go back and do contact tracing. So who, who was this person in contact with? Do they, are they infected? Can we go and sort through the chain of, uh, viral infections to see where exactly this virus came from? Speaker 1: 05:23 Okay, so we don't know definitively then that this is the same variant that they experienced in the UK. Is it possible it mutated here in the U S Speaker 3: 05:33 It is, it is very much possible that this virus mutated here in the U S um, the bar, there's tons of RS in our community. There's tons of RS in the United States, and that virus is evolving here, just like it's evolving in the UK and it's evolving and every place else in the world. And if it makes a mutation that makes it what we call more fit, I able to transmit faster. It could evolve that same mutation here, just as well as it could someplace else. Speaker 1: 06:02 Do we know doctor at the vaccines developed for the original virus will protect against the variant? Speaker 3: 06:08 We do not know whether or not the vaccine will protect from this period, but there's no reason to suspect that it won't. So this virus did not evolve at a time when lots of people were vaccinated. So it's very unlikely that this mutation in this virus was around, uh, that the virus was trying to escape responses that were made by the vaccine. Speaker 1: 06:29 Now, health officials say that because the San Diego man who has tested positive for this variant has not traveled recently. That must mean the virus is circulating in the community. If that is true, what should we expect to see? Speaker 3: 06:45 Well, it, there is virus circulating everywhere. It's not just this variant, but, uh, all the other variants that are out there as well. So I think we're still in the midst of a very, very tough summer, a tough winter. And at this variant is more infectious and it's circulating wildly. Um, then we're going to just see more and more and more of this variant, uh, in people who become infected, um, just going to make the winter even rougher than it is. Speaker 1: 07:13 Is it possible this variant diagnosis could be an isolated incident? Speaker 3: 07:17 It could be, um, it could be that this was an evolution that happened in this person, or maybe a few people and were able to contain it, um, in this group. And it won't get out broadly. Um, that would be great. Um, but if it did evolve, then it's more, it could happen again on its own, or it could have already gotten out and spread, um, in our community. Speaker 1: 07:39 Okay. So Southern California is already under a stay at home order. Many workplaces and businesses are closed. No public events are taking place. We're wearing masks, distancing, staying inside as much as possible. So I, as an infectious disease expert, what more could we possibly do to try to keep this virus and this variant from spreading? Speaker 3: 08:02 Yeah. So if this variant is more infectious and able to spread more than we need to really double down on the mass and socially distancing and not gathering for the holidays. Um, unfortunately we were already starting to have uptick in cases before Thanksgiving, and then Thanksgiving, people wanted to see family and friends, and there were less socially distancing gatherings going on and happening in doors. And that's the surge that happened, um, that we're in the midst of right before Christmas. And then I think that, that, uh, fatigue of socially distancing and, um, gathering, et cetera, happened also during those holidays. And that's what we're seeing, going to be seeing this week. Um, I'm actually on service, uh, this weekend at the hospital and it's going to be a really rough time. But if this variant is more infectious, then we're going to have to really double down and be good about our using our mass and not getting close to one another and not inside Speaker 4: 08:56 With other family members and friends. Speaker 1: 08:59 Okay. Then I've been speaking with Dr. Davy Smith, chief of infectious diseases and global public health at UC San Diego, Dr. Smith. Thank you. Stay safe and trying to have a happy new year, Speaker 4: 09:12 Happy new year [inaudible].
