Coronavirus in Italy and Iran Is Different from Other Countries, Study Finds

Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

1382

Abstract

rm=%28%22sars-cov-2%22+or+%22covid-19%22%29&from_sort=date&from_page=12&from_pos=4">Source</a>: Screenshot from PubMed</figcaption></figure><p id="bc38">In this study, they compiled virus DNA sequences of patients suffering from the current pandemic in seven different countries — Spain, the USA, China, Italy, Iran, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Istanbul researchers wanted to decode how COVID-19 has evolved around the world.</p><p id="db6c">To this end, they aligned the protein sequences (that were translated from the DNA sequences) using a basic bioinformatics alignment tool. The resulting alignment was then used to generate a phylogenetic tree to infer evolutionary groups and relationships.</p><p id="4b32">The results revealed three such evolutionary groups: Group 1 (Italy and Iran), group 2 (Wuhan 26/12/19 and Vietnam 22/01/2020), and group 3 (remaining cases in Spain, the USA, China (after 26/12/19), and Taiwan).</p><p id="bde5">The authors then said that their bioinformatics data suggest group 3 is sourced from group 2. This is consistent with what we know, that SARS-CoV-2 spread to other countries from Wuhan, starting from 26/12/19.</p><p id="b296">The odd case is group 1 (Italy and Iran) that is considered as some sort of an outlier. “It is found that the difference between both viruses in (Iran and Italy) and (China and the rest) is relatively hi

Options

gh,” Al-Najjar and Al-Rousan wrote. They said that Italy and Iran have a different disease from that present in other countries, based on their bioinformatics sequence analysis.</p><p id="7f47" type="7">They closed by suggesting that “there are different viruses spread globally under the name of COVID-19.”</p><p id="d7f2">Why? The authors did not provide any explanations in their paper. Any putative explanations would only be speculative for now. Whether such differences would have any real-life impact — such as in vaccine or drug development or virus properties— would await further studies to confirm.</p><div id="002f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/this-sars-cov-2-variant-correlate-strongly-with-fatality-rates-across-countries-4d4c4afdf6ab"> <div> <div> <h2>This SARS-CoV-2 Variant Correlate Strongly With Fatality Rates Across Countries</h2> <div><h3>G614 variant evades the host immune response, molecular modelling finds, which could complicate vaccine design.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*DrUS_M_V8cR37vyo_6m1oA.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

“There are different viruses spread globally under the name of COVID-19,” bioinformatics analysis suggests.

Researchers at Istanbul Gelisim University, H. Al-Najjar and N. Al-Rousan, recently published a study titled, “Are Italy and Iran really suffering from COVID-19 epidemic? A controversial study,” in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. Their study has been indexed in PubMed, arguable the most credible and widely-used academic database.

Source: Screenshot from PubMed

In this study, they compiled virus DNA sequences of patients suffering from the current pandemic in seven different countries — Spain, the USA, China, Italy, Iran, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Istanbul researchers wanted to decode how COVID-19 has evolved around the world.

To this end, they aligned the protein sequences (that were translated from the DNA sequences) using a basic bioinformatics alignment tool. The resulting alignment was then used to generate a phylogenetic tree to infer evolutionary groups and relationships.

The results revealed three such evolutionary groups: Group 1 (Italy and Iran), group 2 (Wuhan 26/12/19 and Vietnam 22/01/2020), and group 3 (remaining cases in Spain, the USA, China (after 26/12/19), and Taiwan).

The authors then said that their bioinformatics data suggest group 3 is sourced from group 2. This is consistent with what we know, that SARS-CoV-2 spread to other countries from Wuhan, starting from 26/12/19.

The odd case is group 1 (Italy and Iran) that is considered as some sort of an outlier. “It is found that the difference between both viruses in (Iran and Italy) and (China and the rest) is relatively high,” Al-Najjar and Al-Rousan wrote. They said that Italy and Iran have a different disease from that present in other countries, based on their bioinformatics sequence analysis.

They closed by suggesting that “there are different viruses spread globally under the name of COVID-19.”

Why? The authors did not provide any explanations in their paper. Any putative explanations would only be speculative for now. Whether such differences would have any real-life impact — such as in vaccine or drug development or virus properties— would await further studies to confirm.