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Until now it was known that variant B.1.1.7 of SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified last September in the United Kingdom, is more transmissible.

Now it seems to be confirmed that it

is more lethal than previous variants of the coronavirus

.

It is the conclusion reached after analyzing more than two million infection tests and more than 17,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the United Kingdom from September 2020 to February 2021. The data has just been published in

Nature

.

Using data from 4,945 deaths, the researchers estimated that the

risk of death was 55% higher among those infected with the British variant

than with previous variants, after adjusting for influencing factors, including age, sex and ethnicity.

Thus, the absolute risk of death with variant B.1.1.7 for a man aged 55 to 69 years goes from 0.6% to 0.9% during the 28 days after a positive test.

However, this percentage was calculated taking as the British variant the infections in which the S gene of the coronavirus could not be detected (with the SGTF marker of failure in detection).

By correcting this classification using an estimation model that takes into account the existence of other circulating lineages of SARS-CoV-2, the authors conclude that there is

a 61% higher risk of death associated with variant B.1.1.7

.

The analysis, led by Nicholas Davies, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has used a database with 2,245,263 positive results of SARS-CoV-2 tests carried out in the community and of 17,452 deaths from Covid- 19 registered in the UK between September and February.

Of the total number of tests (carried out outside the hospital), 1,146,534, 51%, showed the presence or absence of the B.1.1.7 variant.

Although the researchers do not identify any mechanism that explains this greater increase in mortality, they suggest that "infections [due to this variant] are

associated with higher viral concentrations in nasopharyngeal swabs

, measured by the Ct values ​​of the PCR tests" they write.

A higher viral load could partly explain the increased mortality.

Variant B.1.1.7 has spread to many countries around the world;

it is dominant in the UK, Ireland and Israel

.

According to recent data from Health, the spread of this virus is variable among communities (between 13.6% and 96% according to the data available in week 10 of 2021) and a rapid increase in its distribution is observed in The last weeks.

Studies have established that this variant

is more transmissible than pre-existing ones, but its effect on mortality was unclear

.

Now the authors of this study are blunt: "Our analysis suggests that B.1.1.7 is not only more transmissible than pre-existing variants of SARS-CoV-2, but it also causes more severe disease."

Between 30% and 100%

This work coincides with the conclusions provided by other groups, such as scientists from the British universities of Exeter and Bristol, who consider variant B.1.1.7 between 30% and 100% more lethal than SARS-CoV- 2 from Wuhan.

This study, which appeared last week in the

British Medical Journal

, has recorded 227 deaths from the British variant in a sample of 54,906 patients, compared with 141 among the same number of patients, with similar characteristics, infected by older variants of the virus.

Robert Challen, lead author of the work at the University of Exeter, stated that "in the community,

death from Covid-19 remains a rare event, but variant B.1.1.7 increases the risk

. Along with its ability to spreading rapidly, it makes B.1.1.7 a threat to be taken seriously. "

South African variant

Scientific research on other variants of the coronavirus of greater public health importance or VOC (

variants of concern

) does not bring good news either.

A study carried out during the second wave of the pandemic in South Africa indicates that the variant identified in this country for the first time (called

B.1.351 or 501Y.V2) could explain that there has been more mortality from Covid in hospitals than during the first wave

.

A 20% higher risk of hospital mortality, specifically, according to the authors, from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in Johannesburg, in a work still pending peer review.

Variant B.1.351, widespread in South Africa and some neighboring countries, is increasing progressively in Europe, although it still accounts for a small percentage of cases.

In Spain, according to Health reports, more than 50 confirmed cases

or with a link to a confirmed case

have been detected

(2 sporadic cases and 8 outbreaks, 6 of them with no known link with the most affected countries).

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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