LONDON (Reuters) – An extremely infectious variant of COVID-19 that has spread around the world since it was first discovered in the UK late last year is 30% and 100% more deadly than previous strains, they said. researchers on Wednesday.
In a study that compared death rates among people in the UK infected with the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, known as B.1.1.7, against those infected with other strains, the scientists said that the new variant has a “significantly higher” mortality.
Variant B.1.1.7 was first detected in the UK in September 2020 and has since been found in over 100 countries.
It has 23 mutations in its genetic code – a relatively large number of changes – and some of these have made it more capable of spreading. Scientists in the UK say it is about 40% -70% more transmissible than previously dominant circulating coronavirus variants.
In the UK study, published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday, the infection with the new variant led to 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients with COVID-19, compared with 141 of the same number of patients infected with other variants.
“Along with its ability to spread rapidly, this makes B.1.1.7 a threat that should be taken seriously,” said Robert Challen, a researcher at the University of Exeter who led the research.
Reporting by Kate Kelland; Edited by Pravin Char