Corona Virus Strain

                                                                  

The mutated coronavirus strain that’s been spreading in the U.K. , Africa and other parts of Europe appears to be more contagious and variant is 56% more transmissible than other strains, according to the study by the Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

In medical terms, a strain is a genetic variant, or a subtype within a biological species. Strains are often seen as inherently artificial concepts, characterized by a specific intent for genetic isolation.

Human Coronavirus Types:

Scientists have divided coronaviruses into four sub-groupings, called alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Seven of these viruses can infect people:
229E (alpha)
NL63 (alpha)
OC43 (beta)
HKU1 (beta)
MERS-CoV, a beta virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
SARS-CoV, a beta virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19

How Virus Changes:

Coronaviruses have all their genetic material in something called RNA (ribonucleic acid). RNA has some similarities to DNA, but they aren’t the same.

When viruses infect you, they attach to your cells, get inside them, and make copies of their RNA, which helps them spread. If there’s a copying mistake, the RNA gets changed. Scientists call those changes mutations.

These changes happen randomly and by accident. It’s a normal part of what happens to viruses as they multiply and spread.

Because the changes are random, they may make little to no difference in a person’s health. Other times, they may cause disease.

If a virus has a random change that makes it easier to infect people and it spreads, that strain will become more common.

The bottom line is that all viruses, including coronaviruses, can change over time. Scientists and doctors call slightly different versions of a virus new strains.