A study in Australia suggests that sotrovimab, a treatment for covid, may cause the coronavirus to acquire mutations that enable it to resist the drug.

Sotrovimab neutralises SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein, which the virus uses to enter cells. Given through a drip, sotrovimab can be administered to people within five days of their infection to prevent symptoms from becoming severe.

Rebecca Rockett from the University of Sydney and her colleagues reviewed the first 100 people who received sotrovimab at a healthcare facility in New South Wales between August and November 2021, when the delta variant of the virus was dominant. Eight of the people who were treated persistently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and had airway samples collected before and after they received sotrovimab.

In four of these patients, SARS-CoV-2 developed spike mutations between six and 13 days after sotrovimab was administered, with these genetic changes making the drug ‘effectively inactive’, said Rockett, as reported in The Guardian.

The researchers are calling for increased genomic surveillance around sotrovimab’s use. “What we don’t want to see is resistant virus disseminating in the community, because that will mean that a lot of other people can’t use this drug as well,” said Rockett.

Other coronavirus news

The WHO has warned the pandemic is “far from over”. The number of global recorded deaths between 28 February and 6 March declined by 8 per cent compared to the previous week, with recorded infections also falling by 5 per cent. “Although reported cases and deaths are declining globally, and several countries have lifted restrictions, the pandemic is far from over – and it will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, said on 9 March. “The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major obstacles in distributing vaccines, tests and treatments everywhere they are needed.”

A surveillance programme that looks for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has been rolled out across Northern Ireland, the BBC reported. Wastewater samples from 31 sites are being collected every day and sent to a Queen’s University Belfast laboratory for testing. Gauging infection levels in specific areas may help to prevent large SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, with the technology also looking for new variants.