British variant of COVID-19 much less serious as feared: The Lancet

A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first recognized in Britain does not cause more serious disease in hospitalised individuals, according to a fresh research published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Disorders on Monday.

The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was determined in Britain late this past year and has become the most frequent strain in america, according to the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study analysed a group of 496 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to Uk hospitals in November and December this past year, comparing outcomes in patients infected with B.1.1.7 or perhaps other variants. The experts determined no difference in hazards of serious disease, death, or different clinical outcomes in individuals with B.1.1.7 and other variants.

"Our info, within the context and limitations of a real-world study, provide original reassurance that severity in hospitalised sufferers with B.1.1.7 is not markedly different from severity in those without," the experts said in the analysis.

A separate analysis published in The Lancet Community Health medical journal discovered that vaccines were likely to be effective against the Uk variant since there is no apparent increase in reinfection rate when compared to non-UK variants.

According to British scientists, the British variant was first about 40%-70% even more transmissible than previously dominant variants.

The analyses also confirmed the prior findings that B.1.1.7 was more transmissible.