The first case of infection caused by the South African variant of the new coronavirus in Brazil was identified this Wednesday (31) in the city of Sorocaba, in São Paulo. The mutation, known as B.1351, had not yet been found in the country.
According to the coordinator of the Coronavirus Contingency Center of the State Paulo Menezes, who confirmed the detection of the variant, the patient is a 34-year-old housewife, resident of the city located just over 80 km away from the capital. paulista.
She had a mild picture of the disease, showing the first symptoms on March 5, and did not make a trip to the African country nor did she have contact with travelers who were there or people from other cities. The patient’s husband and children were also diagnosed with covid-19, but only the woman would have been infected with the variant.
The patient, whose samples were collected for analysis on the 26th by the Butantan Institute, did not need to be hospitalized and is no longer in the stage of transmissibility of the virus, according to Sorocaba City Hall. Both she and her family members are monitored by the Municipal Epidemiological Surveillance.
Evolution of the Brazilian variant?
Although the São Paulo government and the city hall have confirmed the identification of variant B.1351 in the patient, the Butantan Institute is still not sure that this is the mutation that has emerged in South Africa.
According to the director of Butantan Dimas Covas, the variant found in Sorocaba may be an evolution of the Brazilian strain, also known as P.1, which had not yet been identified by the researchers.
For Covas, it is necessary to monitor the case carefully and check for other incidents. The municipal administration, on the other hand, believes that the appearance of the variant is responsible for the sudden increase in cases in the city and plans to reinforce vaccination to stop the circulation of the coronavirus.
