Scientists said that a new strain of the Corona virus is spreading rapidly in Britain, carrying mutations that may mean that children are susceptible to infection with this strain as adults, unlike previous strains of the virus.
Scientists from the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Threats Advisory Group that is tracking the new strain told reporters in briefing to reporters of the latest findings that it is rapidly becoming the dominant strain in southern Britain and that it may also spread rapidly across the country.
Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford and chair of the advisory group, said, “We now have great confidence that this strain already has greater transmission capacity compared to other strains of the virus in the United Kingdom.”
“There is an indication that it has a higher propensity to infect children,” said Neil Ferguson, professor and scientist in epidemiology and infectious diseases at London Imperial College and a member of the advisory group.
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“We haven’t proven any kind of causation about that, but we can see that in the data,” he added.
“We still need to collect more data to see how it behaves.”
Among the mutations in the new strain are changes in the way it enters human cells, which may mean that “children may also be susceptible to infection with this virus as adults,” said Wendy Barclay, another professor at the Consultative Group and a specialist in virology in London, Imperial College.
“Therefore, it is expected that we will see more children infected,” she said.
