Arrival of Brazil covid variant concerns health authorities

The scientific community and authorities of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) are on alert for the detection in Panama of the Brazilian coronavirus variant known as P.1,  which is up to 2.2 times more transmissible than the original variants.

In addition, it can cause severe illness and fatality in young people, Minsa reported Sunday.

The scientists argue that the available data on the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which is applied in the country, indicates that it neutralizes and protects against the new variant

The first case of the Covid-19 disease in Panama with the P.1 lineage or variant of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which probably developed last December in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon aroused the concern of the scientific community of Panama because it this lineage has greater transmission, pathogenicity (capacity to produce the disease), as well as the ability to escape the neutralizing antibodies induced by natural infection or a vaccine.

The presence of the variant was confirmed by a team of scientists from the Department of Virology and Biotechnology and the Department of Genomics and Proteomics of the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies (Icges), after complete genome sequencing and analysis of evolution. of the virus.

With the confirmation of the presence in Panama of this lineage and to prevent its spread, the authorities of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) will only allow Panamanians and resident foreigners to enter the country from South America.

The Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, said that from midnight on March 31 arrivals from South American countries should take an antigen test or PCR as soon as they arrive in the national territory.

The decision is due to the fact that countries such as Peru and Chile report a sharp rise in infections in recent weeks, despite the fact that the latter is making good progress in its vaccination process.

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Panama indicated that the data available on the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine (of messenger RNA) indicate that it neutralizes and that it would protect).

The first case with this lineage in the country was confirmed in a 38-year-old woman living in Panama. who arrived in the country from South America with a negative test for Covid-19, as required by Panamanian regulations, although during the trip she already experienced discomfort.

Two days after her arrival her clinical condition worsened and she underwent a PCR test, which was positive.