As of July 5, Canada’s public health agency said it was aware of at least 11 of the C37 cases nationwide.
The agency on Thursday was unable to specify in which provinces these cases are located.
For its part, the National Institutes of Health in Quebec (INSPQ) has identified 27 cases of lambda variant from March 11 to May 5, 2021. Public Health Ontario is set to release its data on Friday.
The lambda variety, identified in August 2020, has spread to Peru, Ecuador, Argentina or Chile, particularly in Europe, and various countries in South America in particular.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified this as a variant of interest in mid-June, as a result High rates of social exchange in many countries
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There are many mutations in C37 that make antibodies more infectious and resistant, says Dr. Lucas Castelloni, a professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
There are mutations in spike protein [à la surface du virus], We know how important this protein is to the virus. These mutations are slightly different from what we have seen before
, He says. For now, the extent of these mutations is not well known.
According to Dr. Anthony Chow, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of British Columbia (UPC), C.37 has the potential to become a worrying variant.
[Le Lambda] Very contagious, which is characteristic of variations of concern, which are contagious.
Do vaccines work against lambda?
Preliminary data from the United States suggest that currently available vaccines protect against this new variant.
However, thatWHO Suggests that additional data is needed to make decisions.
Dr. Chow asks Canadians to be vaccinated. Some people are worried about the side effects of the vaccine, he says. But the complications that the virus can cause are far worse than any side effects.
Professor Castellani agrees. If you are vaccinated, [le Lambda] Not too worried, he argues. You go from a virus that causes a serious illness, death or an infection that can manage a big sequel.
According to him, deregulation in various provinces could increase the number of cases of variation in the country by traveling in the summer.
Medical Professor Jeffrey Joy, In UPC, Says there is no cause for concern at this time, but the spread of the lambda variant should be constantly monitored. We will need a good pan-Canadian molecular monitoring system to control the hotspots of new variants before they spread across the country.
The Government of Canada works with provinces and territories and the Canadian COVID Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) to rapidly monitor surveillance, sequencing, and scientific efforts to identify known and potentially growing variants of the COVID-19 virus of concern.
, Protects the Public Health Institution of Canada.
For its part, TheINSPQ He said he would continue to monitor developments. At this time, the lambda variant has not been classified as a cause for concern by the Public Health Organization of Canada (PHAC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) because the available data do not prove that it is highly contagious and / or reduces the effectiveness of vaccines
, Refers to the company.
With information provided by Lauren Belle of the CBC News
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