What is a variant?

What is a variant?

Last update: 19/02/2021

Like many viruses, by circulating and transmitting themselves, the coronavirus that appeared last year in China makes copies of itself.

However, this multiplication is accompanied by some “modifications” of the genome. These changes are called mutations. Some of these mutations are favorable to the virus and allow it to survive in new people or new environments. Sometimes a mutation results in the emergence of a new, slightly different strain of the virus called a variant.

COVID19 mutates like any other virus.

Screening for Covid19 variants is sought during a positive test for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Regarding the symptoms, for the time being, according to observations, the clinical signs observed in people positive for the English variant VUI-202012/01 are exactly the same as during an infection with Sars-CoV-2 / Covid19 (fever , cough, loss of taste and smell, breathing difficulties, etc.).