Lithuanian scientists are forced to research Covid-19 strains in their spare time amid a lack of funding. Despite the earlier findings that the British variant was not detected in the country, the situation may have changed by now.
In late December 2020, Vilnius Santaros Clinics announced that they have found seven new Covid-19 strains in the country, which were believed to be related to the new, more infectious strain of the coronavirus first detected in the United Kingdom.
The clinics handed over samples to medical company Thermo Fisher for analysis. On January 6, Santara Clinics announced that the company did not locate the new British variant of the coronavirus.
However, scientists said that due to funding issues, there was no constant monitoring of Covid-19 mutations. Therefore, the British variant may already be spreading as only a handful of studies have been performed in Lithuania so far.
One of them was a study initiated in December by the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second biggest city. Having analysed the samples of 60 patients from Kaunas and the surrounding areas, the team concluded that 90 percent of cases were due to the Spanish Sars-Cov-2 strain.
Read more: No trace of British coronavirus mutation in Lithuania yet, researchers say
“We did not detect the British variant during this analysis but that’s not to say there are definitely no cases of it in Lithuania,” Lukas Žemaitis, geneticist at LSMU who helped conduct the research in Kaunas Clinics, told LRT.lt. “The aim of this particular research was to get a general picture rather than look specifically for the strain which had originated in the UK.”
According to Žemaitis, this study represented the actual situation quite accurately. However, similar monitoring was needed in Vilnius and other locations with high infection rates for a more detailed understanding of any variants spreading in Lithuania.
Virus surveillance inconsistent
Another analysis was conducted by the Life Sciences Centre of Vilnius University. The new virus mutation was not detected in any of the 14 samples taken in October 2020. However, this result does not reflect the real situation in the country, according to professor Aurelija Žvirblienė, one of the researchers at VU.
“Wider analysis, based on samples from other places in Lithuania, where arrivals from the UK may have travelled to, is needed,” she said. But the biggest obstacle to consistent monitoring of virus mutations is the chronic lack of resources.
In the absence of state funding, individual universities and their staff are forced to spend their time and money to conduct the necessary research. The recent VU study is one such example. Having paid €25,000 to Thermo Fisher for sequencing the genomes of the 14 samples, the university then had to rely on its scientific staff to analyse the data in their spare time.
“This work is very complex, it requires time and expensive equipment so for our analysts to have to do it in their free time is unacceptable,” said Žvirblienė, adding that the studies should be included in the overall government strategy for managing the pandemic. Both the scientific competency and the required equipment are already in place but without the state support the situation is unlikely to improve.
When asked to confirm the government’s position, Rasa Jakilaitienė, the spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, commented that this was a matter for the Lithuanian Ministry of Health. Representatives of the Health Ministry told LRT.lt that this question has been submitted to the Council of Health Experts and the Ministry would take necessary action on any recommendations received.
The UK, where the new strain was first detected, are currently leading in terms of monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 variant. According to geneticist Lukas Žemaitis of LSMU, consistent surveillance allows for better planning of hospital capacity and determining the measures required to slow the spread of a certain variant.
“This is particularly important when new virus strains are discovered which could potentially cause more severe illness. Identification of such cases would allow for more reliable forecasting and appropriate treatment,” said Žemaitis.
It is also impossible to apply the findings of othercountires to track the virus spread in Lithuania, according to Žvirblienė from Vilnius University.
“The situation is different from country to country, even if we compare our experience to that of our immediate neighbours. This makes it impossible for us to model any future spread of different virus strains,” she said.
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