A separate observational study using data recorded by 37,000 UK users of a self-reported COVID-19 symptom app found no evidence that B.1.1.7. altered variant of symptoms or likelihood of having a long COVID.
The novel coronavirus variant first identified in the UK is not associated with more serious illness and death, but appears to lead to a higher viral load, making it more transmissible, an observational study suggests .
The study of patients in London hospitals is consistent with emerging evidence that this lineage is more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain.
A separate observational study using data recorded by 37,000 UK users of a self-reported COVID-19 symptom app found no evidence that B.1.1.7. altered variant of symptoms or likelihood of having a long COVID.
The authors of both studies acknowledge that these results differ from some other studies exploring the severity of B.1.1.7. variant and call for more research and continued monitoring of COVID-19 variants.
The studies, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and The Lancet Public Health, found no evidence that people with B.1.1.7. The variant has worse symptoms or an increased risk of developing long-term COVID compared to those infected with a different strain of COVID-19.
However, the viral load and the R-number – the number of people an infected person will transmit a virus to – were higher for B.1.1.7., Adding to growing evidence that it is more transmissible than the first strain detected. in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The emergence of variants has raised concerns that they could spread more easily and be more deadly, and that vaccines developed from the original strain may be less effective against them.
Preliminary data on B.1.1.7. indicates that it is more transmissible, with some evidence suggesting that it could also be associated with increased hospitalizations and deaths.
However, as the variant was only recently identified, these studies were limited by the amount of data available.
Results of the new studies, which covered the period between September and December 2020, when B.1.1.7. have emerged and started to spread in parts of England, provide important information about its characteristics that will help inform public health, clinical and research responses to this and other variants of COVID-19 .
The study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases is a whole genome sequencing and cohort study involving COVID-19 patients admitted to University College London Hospital and North Middlesex University Hospital, UK, between the November 9 and December 20, 2020.
“The analysis of the variant before the peak in hospital admissions and all the associated strains on the health service gave us a crucial window of time to gain vital information on how B.1.1.7. differs in severity or death in hospitalized patients from the first wave strain, ”Eleni Nastouli, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The study published in The Lancet Public Health journal is an ecological study that analyzed self-reported data from 36,920 UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app who tested positive for COVID-19 between September and December 2020.
“We have confirmed the increase in transmissibility, but also shown that B.1.1.7. has clearly responded to lockdown measures and does not appear to escape immunity gained from exposure to the original virus, ”said Claire Steves of King’s College London, UK, who co-led the study.
“If new variants emerge, we will analyze changes in symptom reporting and reinfection rates, and share that information with health decision makers,” Ms. Steves said.
Britta Jewell, from Imperial College London, UK, who was not involved in the study, said the study adds to the consensus that B.1.1.7 increased transmissibility.
This, Ms Jewell said, contributed largely to the sharp increase in cases in the UK during the study period and beyond, as well as the ongoing third wave in European countries with a increasing case load B.1.1.7.