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The British variant of the covid-19 virus is believed to have a greater ability to spread, but there is currently no indication that it causes a more serious illness. It’s also unclear if vaccines work differently with him.
The variant was demonstrated in Sweden at the end of last year. A week after January, 17 cases were confirmed in Sweden. A week ago 25 had been found, of which 8 had no direct connection to travel.
It has been criticized that Sweden is doing too little analysis to find the British variant. Whole genome sequencing was done at the beginning of the year in only a small part of the samples in Sweden, about 1 percent. This can be compared with, for example, Denmark and Iceland, which according to a Washington Post compilation in late December performed full genome sequencing in about 11 percent of cases. Australia scored the highest in that review with about 59 percent.
However, the Swedish Public Health Agency has noted that in some regions it is possible to detect possible cases of the new variant of the virus, where a complete genome sequencing can then be performed. And they promise a greater ability to analyze samples.
– It is a business that is developing rapidly. There will be more and more analysis at the national level in the coming weeks. And we also have a dialogue with regional laboratories. This can be done in quite a few places around the country, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said at the joint press conference Tuesday.
And it is urgent according to various experts with whom Swedish Radio Ekot spoke.
– We should have increased capacity by now. But now they are working on it, because the need has become so obvious in recent weeks, says Jan Albert, chief physician and professor of infection control at the Karolinska Institutet.
He continues:
– It is enough that we have more momentum in the spread for it to be a problem. We have a healthcare system that is a little close to what it can handle, and if we get more infections due to a new variant, it is not good, not good at all.
Skåne has had a rapid rise in covid-19 recently, and infection control has reacted there. Last week, infection control doctor Eva Melander appealed to the Swedish Public Health Agency for further testing.
– What interests us is what strains of viruses are moving in our society now. And that is why we have raised the issue of infection control with both the Swedish Public Health Agency and our own laboratory that we want to see an increase in typing, he tells Ekot.
Lakartidningen.se
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