Health officials say a 50-year-old woman living in both Philadelphia and Bucks County has been found to have the UK version.
The laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been asked by city health officials to test the case.
He fell ill at the end of December. She was hospitalized for a short time and is now recovering. He had contact with someone who became infected after traveling to England.
“I would have been surprised if he hadn’t actually been to Philadelphia, and now we know it’s, or at least nearby,” said Frederic Bushman, Ph.D., a microbiologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
He and his team detected the case. It is the first variant B.1.1.7, the so-called British variant, from southeastern Pennsylvania.
“The variant has spread nationally and globally,” Bushman said.
In fact, a new CDC report warns that it could take over as a predominant option by March if no new mitigation measures are taken.
Early research shows that it can spread faster, which would aggravate the already spiraling pandemic.
However, Bushman says there is no cause for alarm. Rather, it is a reminder to do everything we can to slow the spread of the virus.
“What works is wearing masks, social distance, washing hands, avoiding congestion, people should take routine precautions and this works against this strain, it works against other strains,” he said.
Included in this: obtaining the vaccine when available.
Researchers say the vaccine will continue to work against these variants.
But Bushman says it’s something they will continue to monitor with this and other variants of the virus.
This is the second case of the variant found in Pennsylvania. In the first case, a patient from Dauphin County showed mild symptoms.
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