How does Coronavirus mutate? It’s just a series of mistakes – CBS Tampa

(CBS4) – A new COVID-19 variant – omicron – has some experts worried that it could be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines than previous variants of the virus. So how did the virus get to this point? Health experts say there are a number of mistakes that the virus makes when it travels from host to host.

“When viruses are transmitted from person to person, every time that virus moves to a new person, it replicates itself over and over again, and there is a chance that an error will occur,” explained Tori Burket, the epidemiological disease intervention program. Head of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

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A Coronavirus Omicron Variant Composition (Courtesy: Getty Images)

Burket says that when a virus grows inside a person, it reproduces and makes copies of itself. Sometimes the virus makes mistakes with these copies, leading to mutations.

The bugs can sometimes make the virus weaker and that variant dies out, but sometimes the bugs help the virus become a stronger, more resistant form of its earlier version.

“So if you’re thinking about whether you’re a kid and you’re playing that phone game with your friends, addressing your friend and whispering something, as that message gets sent to enough people, things will change, and when you get to the very last person, the message probably sounds or looks a little different than it did in the beginning, “Burket said.” Overall, your body is still recognizing, you know, it’s COVID-19, and that’s why we call them varieties. “

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She says the flu virus mutates about four times as fast as the coronavirus.

“That’s why you get a new flu shot every year,” Burket said. “They change the vaccine every year to try to match the common strains that they see floating around because they mutate and they change.”

Although it will take a few weeks for health authorities to fully understand the properties of the omicron variant, researchers are concerned that its peak protein mutation indicates that it could be more transmissible and more vaccine resistant.

Burket says the best way for communities to prevent further COVID-19 mutations is to be vaccinated and boosted, wear a mask indoors, and practice social distancing.

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“If we are able to reduce the total number of people who become infected with COVID-19, it reduces the chance of that virus mutating at each step,” Burket explained. “Every person who gets infected has a chance that the virus can mutate. So if we cut back on that number, we eliminate those possibilities and there will not be as many mutations, there will not be that many variants.”

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