Variant strains of the virus discovered in the UK may soon spread in the US

　　Variant strains of the virus found in the UK may soon spread in the United States.

　　Vaccination and strict compliance with health guidelines can help reduce transmission

　　Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, January 18 (Reporter Liu Xia) According to a recent report on the US "Science News" website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report saying that a new model study by the center indicated that the first A more contagious variant of the new coronavirus, B.1.1.7, may become the main strain raging in the United States in March.

In view of this, the American people should take more effective measures to curb the spread of the virus in terms of vaccination, wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

　　The new CDC report claims that the B.1.1.7 strain first discovered in the UK in December last year contains some mutations that may accelerate the spread of the virus in the population, although these mutations may not aggravate the disease.

So far, researchers have found this variant strain in 76 cases of new coronary pneumonia in 12 states in the United States.

However, because experts have only analyzed the genes of a small percentage of the millions of people infected with the new coronavirus in the United States, it is not yet clear how prevalent B.1.1.7 is in the United States.

Experts estimate that cases of new coronary pneumonia caused by this variant strain account for less than 0.5% of the total number of new coronary pneumonia cases in the United States.

　　Researchers reported in the January 15th Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that although B.1.1.7 may be at a low level now, it may cause a surge in the number of new coronary pneumonia cases in the United States, and within two months Become the most popular virus variant in the United States.

　　In this new study, scientists simulated the spread of the virus variant in the United States from January to April 2021.

They found that assuming that this variant has a 50% higher transmission rate than other virus strains that have been circulating in the United States, and that about 10% to 30% of people are immune to the previous new coronavirus infection, then by March, B. 1.1.7 may become the "culprit" causing Americans to contract new coronary pneumonia.

　　Health officials said that because B.1.1.7 may be more spreading, people must strictly abide by public health guidelines, such as wearing masks, to curb its spread.

The researchers warned: "If you take measures as soon as possible, the effect will be better."

　　The model further points out that if 1 million people are vaccinated every day, it will help to drastically reduce the number of cases caused by the new variant, thereby reducing hospitalizations and deaths.

　　In addition, even if B.1.1.7 becomes the main new coronavirus in the United States, reducing the spread of all new coronaviruses, including the spread of other variants, can further reduce the spread of B.1.1.7.