Mutated virus does not cause more fatalities: report

Source: The Hindu

News: According to a study by Public Health England, the new mutated variant of the novel coronavirus does not appear to cause more severe illness than other variants.

Facts:

About the Study:

• Under the study, researchers compared 1,769 people infected with the new variant with the same number of people who had different Covid variant. The two groups were matched 1:1 on the basis of age, sex, area of residence and time of testing.
• The study found that 12 of 1,340 (0.89%) people infected with the new variant died within 28 days compared with 10 of 1,360 (0.73%) people infected with virus not belonging to the new variant. Hence, the study has concluded that the difference in case fatality between the two groups is not significant.
• However, the secondary attack rate or the proportion of contacts of confirmed cases that develop disease themselves was higher in people infected with the new variant.

Additional Facts:

• What is a mutation? A mutation means an alteration in genetic material. In an RNA virus such as SARS-CoV-2, proteins are made of a sequence of amino acids. Such a virus contains some 30,000 ‘base pairs’ which are like bricks placed next to each other to form a structure. An alteration in this base can be a mutation, effectively changing the shape and behaviour of the virus.

For Further Read on New Mutant Virus: https://forumias.com/blog/mutated-covid-19-strain-of-uk-spreads-faster/