The new so-called British strain of the coronavirus is characterized by symptoms such as cough, severe fatigue, sore throat and muscle aches, while loss of smell is less pronounced than in the “Chinese” variant, according to the U.K. Office for National Statistics.
The agency’s conclusions were made after processing data from 6 thousand randomly selected residents of England who were detected with Covid-19.
Symptoms such as loss of smell and taste sensitivity are less common with the new strain. However, they are still among the three main symptoms of the disease: high fever, newly developed persistent cough, and changes in taste sensitivity.
The majority of infected individuals exhibit at least one of these three symptoms.
The new strain, first identified in Kent County in September 2020, is capable of spreading faster than the original variant of the virus. It has been found in all parts of the UK, causing the number of new infections to soar and eventually forcing authorities to impose a nationwide lockdown.
There is some reason to believe that this strain is more deadly, but there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to confirm this.
In addition, two other strains – from South Africa and Brazil – have been identified in the country, but only in isolated cases.
Statisticians analyzed the symptoms of those who became ill in the week before they tested positive for the new strain of Covid-19. They compared them with the symptoms of those infected with the “original” strain.
The number of cases should remain unchanged.
The results were taken from people who became ill between mid-November 2020 and mid-January 2021.
The data indicate that the new strain is compatible with two genes, not three as in the first case. From a group of 3.5 thousand people, infected with the new strain. From a group of 2.5 thousand people infected with the previous strain: It turned out that 16% of those infected with the new strain lost their sense of taste, while 15% lost their sense of smell. This is less than people with the old strain (18% in both cases).
The data on headache, dyspnea, and diarrhea and vomiting were identical.
Virologist and Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Warwick, Lawrence Young, says that 23 changes were found in the new strain compared to the one identified in Wuhan.
“Specific changes in the structure of the virus can affect the immune response of the organism and reflect on the symptoms that the infection causes,” said the scientist.
According to Yang, in the bodies of those infected with the new strain, the virus seems to multiply more intensively, causing the infection to spread more widely throughout the body, which may be related to a stronger cough, muscle aches and fatigue.