- People infected with the coronavirus variant called B.1.1.7 are at a higher risk of dying than are people infected with other circulating variants.
- This outcome is regardless of their age, sex and pre-existing health problems.
- The researchers found that for three people who died within a month of testing positive for a previously circulating viral variant, some five died after testing positive for B.1.1.7.
A recent Nature news article reveals that people infected with coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.7 are at a higher risk of dying than people affected with other variants.
What researchers studied?
Daniel Grint at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and his colleagues studied the health records of 184,786 people in England who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 16 November 2020 and 11 January 2021.
Of these individuals, 867 died by 5 February 2021 (D. Grint et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/fzwq; 2021).
What the researchers found?
The researchers found that for three people who died within a month of testing positive for a previously circulating viral variant, some five died after testing positive for B.1.1.7.
The risk of death increases with age and the presence of pre-existing health problems, and men are at higher risk of dying than women.
Where was B.1.1.7?
First detected in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7 is now the dominant variant there and is spreading widely across Europe.
Without control measures and vaccines, the variant could cause a more deadly pandemic than previously circulating versions of the virus, the researchers say.
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Source: Nature
