Can new variants still emerge that make our lives bitter?
The virus continues to mutate, continues to vary. We are currently within the omicron variant and all that is appearing are sublineages, modifications to that variant.
It hasn’t stopped mutating for a single minute.
No, and it will continue to change, it is very clear. We don’t know if that will lead to a totally new variant but it could happen. That is why the WHO monitors these possible modifications at all times. Furthermore, the immunity we have generated is very important. That immunological memory is there. What we have to do is prepare the different vaccines that we are going to get in the future based on these modifications.
In other words, the vaccine is here to stay like the flu vaccine.
Yes, in this case exactly the same thing will probably happen and the vaccines will be adapted to the new strains that emerge. Same as with the flu vaccine.
Is the real number of infections and deaths in Euskadi known? At the end of 2022 there were more than 800,000 positive cases and more than 8,000 deaths.
It is impossible to know the number of infections exactly because it has been counted in different ways at different times of the pandemic. And there are people who have been infected several times. There have been stages in which not all the necessary tests were carried out either. Therefore, it is currently very difficult to interpret the data.
You were a reference in the fight against covid-19, and assumed the direction of the UPV/EHU Surveillance Committee. How do you remember that time?
They were very hard moments. We had to be completely updated on all the issues related to the virus and all the changes in vaccines, antigens, what its form was like… It was complicated.
Where do microbiologists believe the dangers in terms of viruses may come from?
There are many fronts. The biggest challenge is any microorganism and, in this case, a virus that is transmitted through the respiratory route because it is the easiest way to spread. The big viruses talked about are influenza viruses, especially those that arise in birds in their reservoir and reach humans. Or coronaviruses, others different from this one.
2024-03-10 08:00:08
#Basaras #vaccines #adapt #strains #emerge
