The new coronavirus discovered in 2012 is a pathogen that is very well adapted to the human body. This has been determined by the latest study published in the mBio journal of the American Association of Microbiology.
This strain of coronavirus, called HCoV-EMC9, was detected last September with the appearance of the first two cases, one in Saudi Arabia and the other in Qatar. To date, 12 cases have been recorded, of which 6 have been fatal.
What is a coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses characterized by being wrapped in an RNA chain, which when observed under the electron microscope gives it a crown-like appearance. They are associated with different diseases, from common colds to more serious pathologies such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Strain HCoV-EMC9
- The new strain was first discovered in humans in a patient from Saudi Arabia who was treated in London in September 2012 and has so far caused 6 deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) it is a peculiar type of coronavirus that is in the process of being studied. The patients presented symptoms typical of a severe respiratory disease, with fever, cough and dyspnea.
- The mBio study, carried out by scientists from the Swiss hospital of Saint Gallen, has shown that it is a strain highly adapted to humans, since it does not cause a large immune response in the affected person.
- In addition, he adds that its infection capacity is greater than that which causes SARS, which caused 765 deaths out of the 8,045 cases detected between 2002 and 2003, but that it can be treated with Interferon, a medicine used in the treatment of hepatitis C.
- For its part, the WHO has reported that these two types of coronavirus are genetically very different and that it has not yet been proven that contagion occurs from person to person, as is the case with SARS. The organization has not made any type of restriction regarding this pathology because they are much localized cases.