The B.1.1.7 variant of the covid-19 virus, known colloquially as British, is associated with a significantly higher mortality rate, between 30 and 100% more deadly than previous strains, according to new research published in the scientific journal British Medical Journal.
The study, conducted by epidemiologists at the Universities of Exeter and Bristol, UK, compared mortality rates between people infected with and those infected with other strains.
It was shown to cause 227 deaths in a sample of 54,906 patients, compared to 141 among the same number of closely matched patients who had the earlier strains.
“Death from covid-19 is still a rare event, but the B.1.1.7 variant. Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly, this makes it a threat that needs to be taken seriously,” explains the study’s lead author, Robert Challen of the University of Exeter.
“We focused our analysis on cases occurring between November 2020 and January 2021, when both the old variants and the new variant were present in the UK. This meant we were able to maximize the number of ‘matches’ and reduce the impact of other biases.” Subsequent analyzes have confirmed our results,” says another of the authors, Leon Danon, from the University of Bristol.
“It was fortunate that the mutation occurred in a part of the genome covered by diagnostic tests already available. In the future, mutations could arise and spread uncontrollably,” said Ellen Brooks-Pollock, from the University of Bristol.
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