LONDON (Reuters) – A highly infectious variant of COVID-19 that has spread around the world since it was discovered in Britain late last year is between 30% and 100% more deadly than previous strains, researchers said Wednesday.
In a study that compared mortality rates among British people infected with the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, known as B.1.1.7, against people infected with other strains, the scientists said the new variant had a “significantly higher” mortality.
Variant B.1.1.7 was first detected in Britain in September 2020 and has since been found in more than 100 countries.
It has 23 mutations in its genetic code, a relatively high number of changes, and some of these have made it much more capable of spreading. British scientists say it is approximately 40% -70% more transmissible than previously dominant circulating coronavirus variants.
In the UK study, published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal, infection with the new variant resulted in 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients with COVID-19, compared with 141 among 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 co-led the research.
Reports by Kate Kelland; Edited by Pravin Char