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UK coronavirus variant deadlier than other strains

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:


  • A study in the British Medical Journal published on Wednesday that the United Kingdom variant is deadlier than other strains.
  • A lead author posited that the variant raises the risk and “should be taken seriously” given its ability to spread rapidly.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there are 3,283 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant across 49 jurisdictions in the United States.

The deadliest coronavirus variant yet is here.

A British Medical Journal paper said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom coronavirus strain is deadlier than other variants.

Variant  B.1.1.7, as claimed by researchers of the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol, was associated with a “significantly higher mortality” rate among adults compared to other identified strains. It has 23 mutations in its genetic code, and some of which make the strain much easier to spread.

The scholars added that the UK strain was between 30 and 100 percent more deadly than the other variants circulating.

The mutated strain has killed 227 out of the 54,609 COVID patients within 28 days, while 141 had died out of the same number of patients infected with other strains.

“In the community, death from COVID-19 is still a rare event, but the B.1.1.7 variant raises the risk,” Robert Challen, lead author of the study from the University of Exeter, said in a statement. “Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly this makes B.1.1.7 a threat that should be taken seriously.”

The first case of the UK variant was discovered in September last year, according to Reuters.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there are 3,283 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant across 49 jurisdictions in the United States.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have claimed that their vaccines are effective against this variant.

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