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New coronavirus from Latin America: what is the danger of the Lambda strain

Doctors in South America have recorded a new strain of coronavirus C.37. It was called "Lambda". It has already been found in 29 countries of the world. Now the WHO has designated this strain as something that is of interest.

At the same time, Chilean scientists have published a study claiming that Lambda is a more contagious coronavirus variant than other strains.

Scientists compared the behavior of different strains in the blood plasma of two medical workers who had been vaccinated with the drug CoronaVac. In the course of research, it turned out that Lambda is unpredictable in the way the antibodies produced by the vaccine affect it.

The effect of antibodies on the Lambda strain turned out to be reduced by three times when compared with the effect on the initial coronavirus strain. At the same time, the effect of antibodies on the British coronavirus strain is only halved.

Based on the research, the scientists concluded that the Lambda strain is not only highly contagious, but can also avoid the exposure of immunity and antibodies produced by CoronaVac. However, these studies have not yet been peer reviewed.

At the same time, scientists from Peru noted that they cannot yet say whether this strain of coronavirus is more aggressive than other variants. The UK has also reported the lack of evidence of the strain's greater contagiousness.

Context. The Lambda strain was first discovered in Peru back in December 2020 and has been reported in 29 countries since then.

In particular, in Peru, more than 80% of coronavirus cases since April 2021 have been connected with the new strain. In Chile, the Lambda strain has caused about a third of cases reported in the past 60 days.

WHO recognized the strain as a "species of interest" on June 14.

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