Scientists at the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) in the UK say they are now “very confident” that the new variant of the coronavirus is more contagious than others, with a “hint” that it could be more transmissible. can be in children.
According to NERVTAG, the new variant – believed to be native to South East England – would be about 71% more transferable than other variants.
“Last Friday, we felt we had moderate confidence as the data came in, but some of the analysis was done very quickly,” said Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford and chair of NERVTAG, during a virtual newsletter on Monday.
“We are now very confident that this variant has a transmission advantage over other virus variants currently found in the UK,” he added.
Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, in addition to Horby, noted that there is a “hint” that this variant “has a greater tendency to infect children” compared to previous strains. But he cautioned that “we haven’t established causality with that, but we can see that in the data,” he added.
Another NERVTAG member, Wendy Barclay, chief of the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London, said earlier strains of viruses would have had it “harder” to get into human cells using a receptor called ACE2. Adults, who have a lot of this receptor in their nose and throat, are “easy targets” compared to children. But according to this hypothesis, a virus that can more easily use this receptor to enter cells could make children just as susceptible to the virus as adults, she said.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some research suggests that the British strain may bind “more tightly” to the ACE2 receptor, but “it is not known if that closer binding translates, if true, into significant epidemiological or clinical differences. “
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