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According to British scientists, the new corona mutation may be more contagious to children than previous variants of the virus.
British scientists have examined the new crown mutation and concluded that it may be more contagious to children than previous variants. There is evidence that the variant has a higher propensity to infect children, said Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, who is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag). As the newspaper “Bild” further cites, the exact mechanism is not yet clear. “But we can see it from the data.”
According to the group, the mutation affects the way the virus enters a cell. This may mean that children may be as susceptible to this virus as adults.
German virologist Christian Drosten is also concerned about the mutation of the virus: “Unfortunately, that does not look good.” On Twitter he referred to a post by an English epidemiologist who published an article as part of the “Advisory Group on New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats.”
Drosten writes about this: “It is positive that cases with the mutant have only increased in areas where the overall incidence was high or increasing. Therefore, reducing contact also works against the spread of the mutant.”
WHO does not see the situation out of control
The new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus has also been found in Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark, in addition to the United Kingdom. In addition to Denmark, there were individual cases, World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus expert Maria van Kerkhove reported in Geneva on Monday.
The virus can also be controlled in the new variant, emphasized WHO’s emergency aid coordinator Michael Ryan. “The situation is not out of control,” he said. “But we have to work harder. The virus can be stopped.” Protective measures such as keeping your distance, avoiding direct contact, and washing your hands are exactly what should be done with the new variant to avoid infections as much as possible.
According to initial findings by British scientists, the mutation discovered in Britain could be up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form. The R-value, which indicates how many other people an infected person can infect, is 1.5 instead of 1.1 for the new variant, Kerkhove said. The R-value for measles is between 12 and 18, Ryan said.
