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Crown alarm for the little ones! Britain’s mutated coronavirus could be transmitted more easily in children than previously known variants. This is what British scientists say. Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group, which advises the government. “There is evidence that it has a greater tendency to infect children,” says Ferguson, according to the BBC, of the mutated corona virus.
According to the researcher, the exact mechanism behind the infection of children is not yet clear. “But we can see it from the data,” says Ferguson. Wendy Barclay, also a member of the think tank, suspects that mutations in the way the virus enters a cell may have something to do with it. This means that with the new variant “children can be as susceptible to this virus as adults.”
The biologist of the working group advises: “Mutated virus in every background”(01:51)
Drosten is concerned about the new findings
There is currently no known age range in which children are particularly susceptible to the crown mutation. According to information from the UK, the mutation could be up to 70 per cent more contagious than previous variants, regardless of age group.
The British government on Monday released the latest findings related to the new mutation of the virus. German corona expert Christian Drosten, chief virologist at the Berlin Charité, commented on Twitter: “Unfortunately, that doesn’t look good.” However, it is positive that cases with the mutant have so far only increased in areas where the overall incidence, that is, the frequency of new infections with all corona variants over a certain period of time, was high or increasing. “Contact reduction also works against the spread of the mutant,” concluded Drosten.
Cases in Italy, Holland, Denmark
The new variant of Sars-CoV-2 has already been found in Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland and Australia. According to Maria van Kerkhove, a Crown expert at the World Health Organization (WHO), these are individual cases. With one exception: in Denmark, the mutation is said to have appeared more frequently.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock has already sounded the alarm about the spread of the new Corona variant in his country. The mutation was “out of control,” Hancock said. WHO contradicts this representation. Michael Ryan, Director of Medical Emergencies: “Even if the virus spreads a little more efficiently, it can be stopped.” Therefore, the situation “is not out of control”. However, measures to contain the new mutation should be strengthened. (noo)
