What do we know about the coronavirus mutation? How old is it? – Society

Health Policy Professor Elias Mosialos from the School of Economics and Politics conducts a review of the data so far on the new contagious variant of the coronavirus, first detected in Britain and later in other countries, including Greece Recently. London Science (LSE) in a Facebook post.

As you point out, Imperial College London’s epidemiological report on transmission of Covid-19 variant B.1.1.7 lists findings that indicate that the situation in the UK is likely to get worse. According to the data, until mid-December, the original strain, and not the variant, was still prevalent among those over 60, but the new variant was found to be more common in the 0-19 age group.

According to the report, the variant has a significant transmission advantage and the estimated difference in reproduction numbers R between this variant and other non-worrisome variants is between 0.4 and 0.7. The exact mechanism by which the variant increases transmission is not yet known.

The new variant is most common in the age groups 0-9 years and 10-19 years, according to data up to mid-December. The prevalence is higher among the 10-19 years, as shown by the analysis of all those who underwent diagnostic tests. Apart from the increased transmissibility of the variant itself, there could be other reasons for this age distribution. For example:

* schools opened during closure, which probably favored the variant.

* Children and adolescents who are stuck and carry the variant may have developed symptoms and therefore need to undergo a diagnostic test.

This, according to Mr. Mosialos, does not necessarily mean an increased biological sensitivity of children and adolescents towards adults, and should not be interpreted as such. Since these are not random samples from healthy people, but results based on more specific tests, they must be interpreted with care.

According to H. Mosialos, these are considered important because:

* We know that virus transmission that starts in younger age groups inevitably spreads to the elderly and leads to the case of coronavirus and serious illness. We have seen this pattern in the past.

* If the infection in children and adolescents is not reduced, the new variant will probably quickly dominate in adults as well. This is likely to lead to an even faster spread of the infection in the elderly, where the infection is more likely to be more severe and put greater pressure on the UK healthcare system.

* The geographical and age distribution suggests that, although the UK is already in a critical situation, this potential could be exacerbated if the variation extends significantly outside of south-east England.

“The appearance and transmission rate of this variant simply shows that the battle with the virus is not over. “Mass vaccinations, combined with compliance with protective measures, will provide us with the greatest prevention we need to stop the spread and defeat the virus.”

Read the news from Greece and the world, with the reliability and validity of News247.gr.