Filenews 26 February 2021
Of particular concern is a new study by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), according to which the variant of the California coronavirus is just as contagious as the strain first detected in South Africa, but 11 times more deadly!
The B.1.427/B.1.429 variant of coronavirus first appeared in California last spring, but was detected by scientists' radars last December and is being added to a growing list of highly contagious variants, including the one found in Kent, Britain, which led to England's third lockdown last January. Variations from South Africa and Brazil have also caused great concern, with experts battling with time to put the brakes on the emergence of other mutations.
The Californian variant is believed in the new UCSF study to carry twice as much strain as the original coronavirus strain, first detected in Uhan, China, in late 2019 among those infected. And this may mean that the patient is very contagious and therefore can more easily spread the coronavirus, although the relevant investigations have not been completed. The researchers suggest that this variant spreads at least as fast as other recent mutations and can be 11 times more deadly.
In the study, due to be published in medRxiv.org in the next 24 hours, scientists received, according to the Daily Mail, 2,172 samples of the variant from vectors across California between September 2020 and January 2021 and until last month this mutation accounted for more than half of all samples genetically analysed in that US state , while researchers involved in the study told the Los Angeles Times that by the end of March it could be responsible for 90% of Cases of Covid-19 in California. UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Charles Chiu also told the paper that it can be up to 24% more contagious than other strains. Moreover, research suggests that people who overcame the Californian variant appear to have produced twice as many antibodies. Dr. Chiu and his team found an 11-fold higher death rate, although only 12 deaths were recorded in the team under investigation, which means it may also be a statistical error that needs to be checked in a larger group of individuals.
Source: iefimerida.gr
