UK SARS-CoV-2 variant ‘60% more lethal’ as well as more contagious
Researchers have conducted a study of more than 110,000 infected people to assess the new threat
The highly infectious UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 is significantly more deadly than previously thought, UK researchers say.
In a large, matched cohort study, the University of Exeter-led team found patients testing positive for the B.1.1.7 variant in the community were 64% more likely to die than those infected with previously circulating SARS-CoV-2.
The variant, now dominant in the UK, has already been shown to be up to 70% more transmissible than other strains, with numerous mutations increasing the R value, or infectivity rate, by between 0.4 and 0.7.
“In the community, death from COVID-19 is still a rare event, but the B.1.1.7 variant raises the risk,” said lead author Dr Robert Challen (PhD) from the University of Exeter, UK.
