Professor Samira Fafi-Kremer. – Strasbourg University Hospitals
Professor Samira Fafi-Kremer has been inundated with appeals since this morning. Since the Latest News from Alsace revealed Sunday evening that the virology laboratory of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg (HUS) that she heads has detected a new variant of Covid-19. A variant called
Alsatian.
But what is it really? “A story of virologists”, sums up the researcher, quickly showing reassurance: “It is not to watch for the moment, unlike those British, South African or Brazilian. In fact, we have detected it in people who were not seriously hospitalized and have very few symptoms. “
“Variants, there are all the time and every day”
It was at the beginning of February that his teams detected a mutation in the polymerases, enzymes which are involved in the multiplication of the virus. “In our PCR tests referenced Pasteur, we had discordant results between the targets,” continues Professor Samira Fafi-Kremer. We sent our results to the CNRs (National Reference Centers) which confirmed the mutation and we found that the variant was already circulating around the world, especially in Europe. “
His laboratory still detects it a little, without it being the majority, far from it. “I repeat, this is an alert for virologists who use our PCR technique. Variants are there all the time and every day. ” In Alsace as well.