Two new studies suggest that while the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant first identified in the UK may be more transmissible, it might not lead to increased COVID-19 severity, CNN reports.
B.1.1.7, NPR adds, has since spread and is now the most common lineage in the US. Previous studies have suggested that the variant might be not only more easily spread, but also more deadly.
In one of the new studies, appearing in Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers examined samples from 341 patients with COVID-19, 58 percent of whom had the B.1.1.7 variant and 42 percent of whom did not. The University College London-led team found no link between viral variant and severe disease or death, though they did note that viral load appeared higher among patients with B.1.1.7 variant infections.
"One idea for why this variant is more transmissible could be that patients are making more virus," first author Dan Frampton, a bioinformatician at UCL, tells NBC News.
In the other study, published in Lancet Public Health, a King's College London-led team examined whether there were changes in reported symptoms — collected via an app — in a region and the portion of B.1.1.7 variant infections there. As CNN notes, they uncovered no changes in symptoms or disease duration.