British variants are spreading rapidly throughout the United States, studies show

This variant, known as B.1.1.7, is more contagious and can be more deadly than previous forms of coronavirus, but it is far less certain. It carries a package of mutations, including many that alter the structure of peplomer proteins on the surface of the virus and enhance its ability to bind to human receptor cells. People infected with the variant have a high viral load, and studies have shown that coughing and sneezing can increase the virus.

“Our study shows that the United States is on a similar trajectory to other countries, with B.1.1.7 rapidly becoming a major variant of SARS-CoV-2, with covid-19 morbidity. We need quick and decisive action to minimize mortality, “the author writes. ..

Disease experts point out that masks and social distances continue to limit their spread, and vaccines continue to be effective against them.

Florida stands out as the state with the highest prevalence of subspecies. The new report estimated the doubling time of B.1.1.7 prevalence in positive test results in 9.1 days.

Florida also leads the nation with reported cases, including B.1.1.7, with 187 infections as of Thursday, followed by the much more populous California with 145 infections. According to the CDC..

The report concludes that this variant is 35 to 45 percent more infectious than other strains of the virus in the United States.

“It’s here, it’s deeply involved in the country, and it’s quickly becoming the dominant pedigree,” said Michael Wolobay, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona and co-author of a new treatise.

However, the CDC predicts that the decline will be slower than if the variant did not settle. Also, other wildcards are used in the form of additional variants.They are included B.1.351First seen in South Africa, it contains mutations, raising concerns about the medical community (E484K,) Nickname of “Eeek”) Limits the effectiveness of the vaccine, but does not completely compromise it.

Even more troublesome is preliminary evidence from a clinical trial conducted in South Africa by successful vaccine maker Novavax, in which people previously infected with the coronavirus and given placebo re-infected with B.1.351. It shows that it is. There was no evidence that these subsequent infections were severe or fatal, but officials believed that the South African variant and another variant that first appeared in Brazil were at particularly high risk of reinfection. I will.

The British variant does not contain the “Eeek” mutation of interest, Appeared sporadically.. A Report A recent publication in the journal Science, based on laboratory studies using different variants of the virus, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine remains effective against B.1.1.7.

“We need to be vaccinated as soon as possible,” said James Lu, co-author of the new report and president and co-founder of Helix, a genomics company that provided much of the data used in the study. Stated.

The new study does not include data on South African variants. This is because the UK variant has already been seen hundreds of times, while it has been detected in only a handful of cases in the United States. A new study concludes that the UK variant was introduced to the United States multiple times by the end of November.

When the CDC issued a warning about B.1.1.7 last month, it was still present in less than half of the 1 percent cases. According to a new survey, it jumped to about 3.6% at the end of January. Although these numbers are still low, new studies show that the prevalence of positive test results has increased exponentially, doubling every 9.8 days nationwide.

“I’m concerned that exponential growth in the early stages doesn’t look that fast,” said Andrew Neumer, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Irvine, who wasn’t part of a new study. I did. “It’s a kind of corruption — and then it’s booming.”