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The British corona mutation does not lead to severe courses more often. But that is no reason to give the all-clear

2020-12-30T13:22:44.623Z


A study shows: Corona variant B.1.1.7, which was also discovered in Germany, does not cause serious illnesses more frequently than other virus lines. But that's not a reason to give the all-clear.


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A patient is admitted to Guy's Hospital in London

Photo: TOLGA AKMEN / AFP

The mutation of the coronavirus in Great Britain has long since spread around the world.

In Germany, a case with the variant called B.1.1.7 already occurred in November.

The mutation was last detected for the first time in Chile, also in the US state of Colorado.

There, the mutated virus type occurred in a young man who, according to the information, had not even traveled recently.

Experts had suspected that B.1.1.7 spreads faster than the previously known virus lines.

But little was known about how dangerous the mutation is.

Researchers from Great Britain are now at least giving the all-clear.

According to a current study by the British health authority Public Health England, B.1.1.7, called "Variant of Concern 202012/01" by the researchers, does not cause any more serious diseases than other variants.

For the study, the researchers compared 1769 people who were infected with the new variant with 1769 people who had the so-called wild type - a total of 3538 cases.

The two groups were matched on the basis of age, gender, place of residence and time of the test.

Of the total of 42 people who were hospitalized, 16 (0.9 percent) were infected with the new variant, while 26 cases (1.5 percent) had wild-type infection, according to the study.

Twelve people died in the B.1.1.7 group, while there were ten in the control group.

"Preliminary results of the cohort study showed no statistically significant difference in hospitalization and the 28-day death rate between cases with the variant and wild-type comparison cases," write the authors of the study.

However, the investigation corroborates the suspicion that the B.1.1.7 variant is more contagious.

The secondary attack rate for the mutation was around 15 percent - compared to around ten percent for the classic variants.

This means: The mutation led to new infections more frequently in the contact persons of B.1.1.7 infected people.

Higher virus concentration in the B1.1.7 mutation

The investigations have not yet been completed.

The results must therefore be interpreted with some caution, as they have not yet revealed any significant, i.e. clearly recognizable, differences.

Even the higher infestation rate is still being discussed in specialist circles.

A study carried out by laboratory doctors from Birmingham fits in with the results of the cohort study.

The analysis uploaded to a preprint server and not yet scientifically assessed shows that people infected with the B.1.1.7 variant have higher virus concentrations in their samples.

Michael Kidd's team had examined the tests of symptomatic patients and found a higher viral load in 35 percent of those infected with B.1.1.7.

With the conventional variant it was only about ten percent.

“It seems that patients with the B.1.1.7 variant have a higher viral load.

This could make the virus more easily transmitted to other people, «write the experts.

At the same time, they make it clear that their data is only useful as an interim result.

In the current situation, however, a faster spread could be the bigger problem.

Because even if no more severe courses result from the B.1.1.7 variant, that will probably not be of any consequence, as more people become infected faster.

Several changes are summarized under the B.1.1.7 line.

The N501Y mutation is of major concern to virologists.

It could affect what is known as the spike protein, which the virus uses to dock on human cells.

The change could have made this connection much more stable - therefore the virus may penetrate the cells more easily and multiply there.

On Tuesday, British virologist Andrew Hayward, who also advises the government, warned that Britain would be heading for disaster in the coming weeks if it does not take tough action against the contagious variant of the disease.

The country reported 53,135 new corona cases on Tuesday, the highest number since the start of mass tests in mid-2020. On Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that it would extend lockdown measures in England.

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with material from Reuters

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2020-12-30

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