UK Covid Variant Studies Show Higher Transmissibility biotecnika.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from biotecnika.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Studies provide insights into characteristics and clinical effect of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant
Two new studies, published in
The Lancet Infectious Diseases and
The Lancet Public Health, found no evidence that people with the B.1.1.7. variant experience worse symptoms or a heightened risk of developing long COVID compared with those infected with a different COVID-19 strain. However, viral load and R number were higher for B.1.1.7., adding to growing evidence that it is more transmissible than the first strain detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The emergence of variants has raised concerns that they could spread more easily and be more deadly, and that vaccines developed based on the original strain might be less effective against them. Preliminary data on B.1.1.7. indicates that it is more transmissible, with some evidence suggesting it could also be associated with increased hospitalisations and deaths. However, because the variant was identified only recently, these
B 1 1 7 variant more transmissible, does not increase severity, Lancet studies suggest eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BBC News
By James Gallagher
Ask: Has the virus s behaviour changed?
A mutated virus sounds instinctively scary, but to mutate and change is what viruses do.
Most of the time it is either a meaningless tweak or the virus alters itself in such a way that it gets worse at infecting us and the new variant just dies out.
Occasionally it hits on a new winning formula.
There is no clear-cut evidence the new variant of coronavirus - which has been detected in south-east England - is able to transmit more easily, cause more serious symptoms or render the vaccine useless.