Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – In recent research, researchers found that the British variant of the Covid-19 virus did not increase the severity of Covid-19 compared to other strains. This research was published Tuesday (13/4) which also confirmed the increase in transmission.
The variant, known as B117, is now the dominant strain of virus in much of Europe, and previous research has shown that the variant is dangerous because it is easier to pass on to other people.
Citing AFP, Tuesday (13/4/2021), but two studies published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and the journal The Lancet Public Health found no evidence that people with B117 experience worse symptoms or a greater risk of developing Covid-19. longer than those infected with different variants.
The study however found that the variant was associated with a higher viral load and reproductive rate than the normal variant.
The authors of the first study looked at data from 341 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 late last year when B117 was rampant in southeast England. They found that 58 percent of these patients had B117, while 42 percent had non-B117 Covid-19.
Of those infected with B117, 36 percent became seriously ill or died, compared with 38 percent of those without B117, indicating that there was no link between B117 and an increased risk of severe infection.
In addition, data shows that the variant tends to be younger, and B117 infection is more common in ethnic minority groups.
The author also analyzes transmissibility by looking at the data generated by PCR testing. They found that the B117 samples tended to contain more viruses than the non-B117 swabs.
Commenting on the first study, Sean Wei Xiang Ong, Barnaby Edward Young and David Chien Lye of Singapore’s National Center for Infectious Diseases, said the findings differ from three previous studies which showed that B117 was more lethal than other variants.
But they say the Lancet study has the advantage of using whole genome sequencing as well as a good variety of patient and disease outcomes.
“The finding that lineage B117 infection does not confer an increased risk of severe disease and death in this high-risk group is convincing but requires further confirmation in larger studies,” said the experts, who were not involved in the study.
Meanwhile, a second study analyzed self-reported data from 36,920 users of the Covid-19 symptom app in the UK who tested positive between September 28 and December 27 last year.
They found that the B117 variant had a reproduction rate 1.35 times higher than the normal coronavirus variant, but also found no evidence of increased disease severity.
(roy/roy)
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