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Dr Anthony Fauci, the US government’s leading infectious disease expert, warned this week that the most contagious Chinese coronavirus variant first identified in the UK and now found in more than half of the US could be more deadly than previously thought, echoing findings from British scientists.
Last weekend, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed it had looked at data compiled by British scientists that suggested the British variant could be more deadly than initially thought.
During a briefing to reporters on Wednesday, Fauci mentioned “the increase in transmissibility and the likelihood of increased lethality in B117”, the official name for the British strain.
Other more contagious variants are circulating in the United States, including those first discovered in Brazil, South Africa and even California.
However, the British strain is currently the most common in America.
“The projection that is being made about this UK is that probably by the end of March, the beginning of April, it will actually become more dominant in this country,” Fauci told reporters on Friday.
“I believe we should treat each case as if it were a variant during this pandemic right now,” added Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC have recognized that while the UK strain is no more deadly than originally thought, an increase in infections will strain healthcare resources. health, leading to more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths.
According to the CDC, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the variants affect the effectiveness of vaccines.
However, Dr Fauci noted on Friday that as the virus continues to mutate, the United States “will need to be nimble so that it can simply adapt easily to create versions of the vaccine that are in fact specifically directed at the prevailing mutation. at one point. time.”
Until January 22, CDC and WHO officials argued there was no evidence the UK variant caused more severe illness or increased risk of death, only that it spread more faster than other versions.
Citing scientists who advised his government, Prime Minister Johnson admitted on January 22 that the British variant discovered could be more deadly.
The PM reportedly said in a televised address:
We were informed today that in addition to spreading faster, it also now appears that there is evidence that the new variant – the variant that was first identified in London and the South East – may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. . All the current evidence continues to show that the vaccines we are currently using remain effective against the old variant and this new variant.
During the televised address, Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, warned that data on the lethality linked to the variant remained “very uncertain”. the Wall Street newspaper noted, adding:
In hospital [coronavirus] case, there appears to have been no increase in mortality. But among the general population, deaths were higher among those who had the new variant, he said.
Out of 1,000 people aged 60 with the new variant, 13 to 14 are expected to die, compared with about 10 deaths per 1,000 with the old variant, according to Vallance.
Based on these numbers, the British strain can increase the risk of death by 30-40%.
British government scientists have also reportedly predicted that the new strain will spread 30-70% faster than previous versions.
Michael Osterholm, epidemiologist and member of President Joe Biden’s Coronavirus Transition Team, said that after reviewing data from the UK and other data that has not been made public, he is “convinced That the new variant is more lethal, CNN reported.
Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The UK variant has spiked infections across the UK and appears to be spreading rapidly in the US.
CDC officials had detected the 52 cases of the British variant in just five US states as of January 7, Breitbart News noted.
Fast-forwarding about three weeks (as of Friday), the CDC had identified 434 cases in 30 states, marking an almost eight-fold increase in infections and a six-fold increase in states, respectively.
Florida (125) and California (113) and harbor the highest concentration of strain infections in the UK, followed by New York (22). In the vast majority of the remaining states, the number of new variant cases remains single-digit.
The Brazilian strain has only been detected in Minnesota so far. South Carolina has reported two cases of the South African variant, the only ones in the country.
CDC officials believe many more cases of the new strains go undetected in the US
While variations are needed, several states, including California and New York, are relaxing the restrictions.
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