Scientists from the UK’s New and Emerging Virus Advisory Group (NERVTAG) say they are now “very confident” that the new variant of coronavirus is more infectious than others, with a “clue” that could be more transmissible in children. .
According to NERVTAG, the new variant – which is believed to have originated in the south-east of England – could be transmissible by about 71% more than other variants.
“Since last Friday, we felt we had moderate confidence because the data was coming in, but some of the tests had been done very quickly,” said Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at Oxford University and president of NERVTAG a virtual briefing Monday.
“We are now very confident that this variant has a transmission advantage over other virus variants that currently exist in the UK,” he added.
Speaking alongside Horby, Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London noted that there is an “indication” that this variant “has a greater propensity to infect children” compared to previous strains. But he warned that “we have not established any kind of causation about this, but we can see it in the data,” he added.
Another NERVTAG member, Wendy Barclay, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, said previous strains of the virus may have had “more difficulty” entering human cells via a receptor called ACE2. Adults, who have a lot of this receptor in their nose and throat, are “easy targets” compared to children. But according to this hypothesis, a virus that can more easily use this receptor to enter cells can make children as susceptible to the virus as adults, he said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some research suggests that the UK strain may “bind more closely” to the ACE2 receptor, but “it is unknown whether this closer binding, if true, translates into significant clinical or epidemiological differences “. ”
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