The UK variant COVID-19 has a significantly higher mortality rate, the study concluded

LONDON (Reuters) – A highly infectious variant of COVID-19 that has spread around the world since it was first discovered in Britain last year is between 30% and 100% more deadly than previous dominant variants, said researchers on Wednesday.

In a study that compared mortality rates among people in Britain infected with the new SARS-CoV-2 variant – known as B.1.1.7 – with those infected with other variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, scientists said that the new variant the mortality rate was “significantly higher”.

Variant B.1.1.7 was first detected in Britain in September 2020 and has since been found in more than 100 other countries.

It has 23 mutations in its genetic code – a relatively high number – and some of them have made it much easier to spread. Scientists say it is about 40% -70% more transmissible than the previous dominant variants that were circulating.

In the UK study, published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday, infection with the new variant led to 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients with COVID-19, compared with 141 among the same number of patients infected with other variants.

“Coupled with its ability to spread quickly, this makes B.1.1.7 a threat that must be taken seriously,” said Robert Challen, a researcher at the University of Exeter who co-led the research.

Independent experts said the findings in this study add preliminary evidence linking the infection with the B.1.1.7 virus variant with an increased risk of death from COVID-19.

The study’s initial findings were presented to the UK government earlier this year, along with other research, by experts in its New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group, or NERVTAG.

Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick University, said the precise mechanisms behind the higher mortality rate for variant B.1.1.7 were not yet clear, but “may be related to higher levels of replication of viruses, as well as increased transmissibility ”.

He warned that the UK variant was probably fueling a recent spike in infections in Europe.