Written by Apoorva Mandavilli
It has a more contagious form of the coronavirus start circulating in the United States.
In Britain, where it was first identified, the new variant became a major form of the coronavirus in just three months, accelerating the nation’s rise and filling its hospitals. It could do the same in the United States, exacerbating deaths and overcoming the already stressed health care system, experts warned.
Variations that spread more easily also mean that people have to divinely adhere to measures such as social pace, wearing mascara, hand hygiene and improved ventilation – unwelcome news for many Americans who are already running against restrictions.
“The bottom line is that anything we do to reduce the spread will reduce the spread of any changes, including this one,” said Angela Rasmussen, a University-affiliated virus expert. Georgetown. However, “it may mean that targeted measures that do not appear to be fully locked out will be less effective.”
What makes this variable more mobile? What makes this variant more contagious than previous reports of the virus? And why should we worry about a variant that spreads more easily but doesn’t seem to make a person sicker?
We asked experts to emphasize the growing research on this new version of the coronavirus.
The new variable seems to spread more easily between people.
Many variants of the coronavirus have surfaced since the onset of the pandemic. But all the evidence so far suggests that the new mutant, called B.1.1.7, is more mobile than the previous forms. It first surfaced in September in Britain but already accounts for over 60% of new cases in London and nearby areas.
The new variant appears to be more human-transmitted than earlier versions of the coronavirus, even when the environments are similar. It is not clear what brings this benefit to the variable, although there are indications that it may capture cells more efficiently.
It is also difficult to say how much more flexibility the new version could have, as scientists have not yet performed the type of laboratory experiments required. Most of the conclusions have been drawn from epidemiological observations, and “all available data contain as much bias as possible,” said Muge Cevik, an infectious disease specialist at the University of St Andrews. in Scotland and scientific adviser to the British government.
Scientists initially thought the new variant was 70% more portable, but a recent modeling study showed that number at 56%. As soon as researchers move through all the data, it’s possible that the variable is just 10% to 20% more mobile, said Trevor Bedford, evolutionary biologist at the Center Fred Hutchinson will study cancer in Seattle.
Nevertheless, Bedford said, it is likely to catch on quickly and become a majorstay in the United States by March. Scientists like Bedford are closely monitoring the known variables to find any other changes that could change their behavior.
As well as more movement, the variant will carry you as earlier versions.
The new mutant virus may spread more easily, but in all other respects it appears to be slightly different than before.
The variation does not seem to make people sicker or lead to more deaths. However, there is cause for concern: A more portable variable will raise the death tax simply because it spreads faster and attracts more people.
“In that sense, it’s just a numbers game,” Rasmussen said. The impact will be increased “in places like the US and the UK, where the healthcare system is really at an early stage. ”
The distribution pathways have not changed – with large and small droplets, and small aerosolized particles in dense indoor spaces. That means that masks, limiting time with others and improving ventilation in indoor spaces all help spread the variable, as these measures do with other variants of the virus. .
“By reducing your exposure to any virus, you are going to reduce the risk of becoming infected, and that is going to reduce the overall transmission,” said Rasmussen.
Infection with the new variant could increase the amount of virus in the body.
Some preliminary evidence from Britain indicates that people with the new strain are more likely to carry more of the virus in their noses and throats than those infected with previous strains.
“We are talking in the range of 10-fold larger and 10,000-fold larger,” said Michael Kidd, a clinical pathologist at Public Health England and a clinical adviser to the British government who studied the phenomenon.
There are other explanations for the discovery – Kidd and his colleagues did not have access to information about when they were a test illness of humans, for example, that may have affected the so – called viral loads.
However, the result offers one possible explanation for why the new variable spreads more easily. The more viruses infected people harbor the nostrils and throats, the more they go out into the air and into the surface when they breathe, speaking, singing, coughing or sneezing.
As a result, there are more opportunities to reproduce new diseases in conditions that expose humans to the virus. Some new data reveals that people with the new variant are spreading the virus to more of their acquaintances.
With previous versions of the virus, a contact finding suggested that about 10% of people who have close contact with an infected person – within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes – were infected with enough virus to be infected.
“Conversely, we could expect 15% of these,” said Bedford. “Currently there is an increased risk of dangerous activity.”
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Scientists are still learning how the mutations have altered the virus.
The variant has 23 mutations, compared to the version that exploded in Wuhan, China, a year ago. But 17 of those mutations suddenly appeared, after the virus migrated from its most recent ancestor.
Everyone with an infection is infected, offering opportunities for the virus to circulate as it multiplies. With more than 83 million people infected worldwide, the coronavirus is accumulating mutations faster than scientists expected at the onset of the pandemic.
Most spores do not take any advantage of the virus and die. But mutations that improve the fitness or transmission of the virus are more likely to catch on.
At least one of the 17 new mutations in the variant contributes to increased infectivity. The method is not yet known. Some data suggest that the new variant may bind more tightly to proteins on the surface of human cells, allowing the infection to be more easily absorbed.
The variant may develop in an infected person’s nose and throat, but not in the lungs, for example – which may explain why patients spread it more easily but do not develop more serious illnesses. than those caused by earlier versions of the virus. Some flu viruses behave in the same way, experts noted.
“We need to look at this evidence as initial and collective evidence,” Cevik said of the growing data on the new variant.
However, the research suggests that there is an urgent need to cut the spread of the variant, she said: “We need to be much more careful overall, and look at the gaps in our mitigation measures.”