Two new studies suggest that B.1.1.7 mutants are more contagious but do not increase the severity of the disease

One of the studies published on Monday Lancet infectionNo evidence was found in the inpatient sample that the B.1.1.7 mutant was associated with severe Covid-19. However, this variant is associated with increased viral load, supporting increasing evidence of ease of infection.

Other studies were also published on Monday Lancet Public HealthNo statistically significant association was found between the B.1.1.7 variant and the type or duration of Covid-19 symptoms that people said they experienced.

The Lancet infection study included data from 496 people who were admitted to a hospital in London and tested positive for coronavirus infection.

“Our data provide the initial reassurance that, within the context and limitations of the actual study, the severity of inpatients with B.1.1.7 does not differ significantly from the severity of non-patients. This study provides a model of the same answer, which raises questions again as we move into the era of new variants. “

Nose and throat swab samples were collected from patients between November 9th and December 20th. Of these samples, 341 were genomically sequenced. Sequence data show that 198 patients (58%) had infections caused by the B.1.1.7 mutant, while other patients were caused by other strains of coronavirus. Shown.

The researchers found no difference in the outcome of serious illness or death between the mutant and other strains.

For example, the data show that 36% of patients in the B.1.1.7 variant infection study experienced severe illness or death compared to 38% of patients with non-B.1.1.7 infections. Shown. Researchers say that 16% of patients with B.1.1.7 mutant infections died within 28 days, compared to 17% of patients with non-B.1.1.7 infections, especially when they died. discovered.

However, the researchers found an increase in viral load in patients with B.1.1.7.

Overall, “Patients with B.1.1.7 were younger and had fewer comorbidities than patients with infections other than B.1.1.7. This is the spread and potential of this variant in the community. It may represent an increase or difference in the likelihood of hospitalization. It could not be investigated in this hospital-based cohort. ”

“If patients with B.1.1.7 are hospitalized more often than patients of other strains, finding B.1.1.7 more commonly in younger and older people is more serious. It gives subtle hints of the disease, but there are differences in the severity of the disease due to B.1.1. The main analysis did not find .7 in this hospitalization cohort. “

“This study adds a consensus that B.1.1.7 enhanced transmission.”

The Lancet Public Health study included data from 36,920 people who tested positive for Covid-19 and recorded symptoms in the COVID Symptom Study app between September 28 and December 27.

Designed by doctors and scientists at King’s College London, Guys and St. Thomas Hospital, and medical technology firm Zoe Global Limited, the app is designed to track the prevalence of Covid-19 and the range of symptoms experienced. Useful.

The authors of this UK- and US-based study analyzed the data reported in the app along with UK Covid-19 surveillance data.

Analysis showed that the prevalence of B.1.1.7 variants over time in a particular region was not associated with Covid-19 symptom changes or symptom duration reported in the app.

“The proportion of users with asymptomatic disease did not change significantly as the prevalence of the B.1.1.7 variant increased, consistent with other studies on this subject,” the researchers said. Is writing in the study. “Also, there was no change in hospitalization, but other reports show that the B.1.1.7 variant increases hospitalization rates.”

Researchers found that 0.7% of app users reported a low coronavirus reinfection rate and a positive Covid-19 test test again after 90 days, with an increase in B.1.1-related reinfection rates. I found that there was no evidence of. .7 variant.

Researchers did not have data on the risk of dying from Covid-19, and most app users were tested only when they were symptomatic, so there were relatively few asymptomatic infections in the data.

However, researchers have discovered a “multiplicative increase” in the number of reproductions of the B.1.1.7 mutant, suggesting that it may spread more easily.

“This study adds consensus that B.1.1.7 increased transmission. This is a surge in cases in the UK during and after the study, and a third ongoing study in European countries. It’s a big contributor to the waves. The burden of the B.1.1.7 incident, “Britta Jewel of Imperial College London wrote in an editorial accompanying a new study in the journal The Lancet Public Health. Jewel was not involved in the new research.

“B.1.1.7 may show symptoms similar to other strains, but as long as SARS-CoV-2 infection continues on a large scale, the emergence of new variants is inevitable,” Jewel wrote. I have. “In other regions, especially in low- and middle-income countries where vaccination may take a long time to control the epidemic, there are specific ways to monitor symptoms and disease characteristics in real time, similar to COVID symptom studies. May help. Potentially significant changes in symptoms, infectivity, mortality, or vaccine avoidance as soon as possible. “