New, more infectious strain of COVID-19 now dominates global cases of virus

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/uos-nmi070220.php


News Release 2-Jul-2020
University of Sheffield


Researchers have shown that a variation in the viral genome of Covid-19 improved its ability to infect human cells and helped it become the dominant strain circulating around the world today.

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Dr Thushan de Silva, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Infectious Diseases at the University of Sheffield, led analysis of data from Sheffield. He said: "We have been sequencing SARS-CoV-2 strains in Sheffield since early in the pandemic and this allowed us to partner with our collaborators to show this mutation had become dominant in circulating strains. The full peer-reviewed study published today confirms this, and also that the new D614G genome mutation variant is also more infectious under laboratory conditions.

"Data provided by our team in Sheffield suggested that the new strain was associated with higher viral loads in the upper respiratory tract of patients with Covid-19, meaning the virus's ability to infect people could be increased.

"Fortunately at this stage, it does not seem that viruses with D614G cause more severe disease."

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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/505766-fauci-warns-new-coronavirus-mutation-may-cause-virus-to-spread?fbclid=IwAR2Uz5f9fHKbsBSuOYMq1bbJoeAhcdjRDKf59CKG077czutV2gGrIVZbQrw

By John Bowden - 07/02/20 10:42 PM EDT


Fauci warns new coronavirus mutation may cause virus to spread more easily

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In an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association, Fauci referenced an article published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell that pointed to a new, prevalent virus strain thought to have first spread in Italy.

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The study, which was released by researchers affiliated with the Sheffield COVID-19 Genomics Group, stated Thursday that the new strain "has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic."

"The shift occurred even in local epidemics where the original [strain of the virus] was well established prior to the introduction of the G614 variant," the scientists wrote in their abstract, referring to the strain of coronavirus thought to have originated in Wuhan, China.

"The consistency of this pattern was highly statistically significant, suggesting that the G614 variant may have a fitness advantage," they continued.

Scientists with the study cautioned, however, that there was no evidence that the prevalent strain was more severe.

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