UK officials say the British variant of the new coronavirus could be more deadly than other strains, but stressed that the evidence for this was still very uncertain.
This variant, called B.1.1.7, was first identified in September 2020 in Kent, England and has since spread around the world. This variant is more contagious, with studies finding that it is about 50 to 70% more transmissible than other strains circulating widely. Live Science reported earlier.
“Apart from spreading faster, it also appears that there is evidence that the new variant … may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. said during a news conference on Friday (January 22).
The data come from several preliminary studies of mortality rates among people with the new variant compared to the rates associated with other strains, according to the BBC. For example, one study from The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine looked at 2,583 deaths among 1.2 million people tested for coronavirus in the UK and found that those who had the new variant were about 30% more likely was to die in a 28 days. period compared to those infected with other strains, according to the information provided by the British government.
To put this increase in context, Patrick Valance, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, told the news conference that in a population of 1,000 people in their 60s infected with other strains, about 10 people were expected to die, but with the new variant. , the number of deaths would rise to 13 per 1,000.
However, the early cases analyzed may not be representative of the total population. What’s more, officials see this increase in mortality only if they look at the wider population of all who have tested positive for the virus. If they only look at those admitted to the hospital, they do not see an increase in mortality rates with the new variant. However, officials noted that the delay time between hospitalization and death could be relatively long, and that additional data will make their analysis more definitive in the coming weeks.
The evidence “is not yet strong,” Valance said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty around these numbers, and we need more work to deal with that exactly.”
But officials stressed that all current evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the new variant, as they are against other strains.
Originally published on Live Science.