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The new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is spreading rapidly in Britain, carries mutations that could mean that children are as vulnerable as adults to infection with the new coronavirus, unlike its predecessors, say British scientists .
In briefing reporters of their latest findings, scientists from the Government Advisory Group on New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats (NERVTAG), which monitors the mutation, noted that it has quickly become the dominant strain in southern Britain. And it could do the same across the country.
“We now believe that this mutation has a transmission advantage over other variants of the virus in the UK,” said Peter Horby, emerging professor of infectious diseases at the University of Oxford and director of NERVTAG.
“There are indications that it has a greater tendency to infect children,” said Neil Ferguson, a professor and epidemiologist at Imperial College London who is also a member of NERVTAG. “We have not determined causality, but we see it in the data. “We will need to collect more data to see how it performs in the future.”
The appearance of the mutated virus, which is considered 70% more contagious, has led some countries to close their borders with Great Britain. In the country itself, severe restrictions have been imposed in some areas.
Wendy Barkley, another virology professor and member of NERVTAG, said that one of the mutations seen in the new variant of the coronavirus is the way it enters human cells, which may mean that children “are possibly just as susceptible to it. viruses like adults. “
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