A MORE infectious strain of Covid-19 is “spreading faster than the original from China”, experts have warned.
A new mutation of the virus is forming clusters at a rapid pace in the UK and is helping outbreaks spread with ease.
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Professor Nick Loman of the University of Birmingham said the new strain is having a clear impact on humans.
Prof Loman is part of the Covid-19 Genomics Consortium and said the D614G mutation was first predicted by computer modelling of the virus.
Scientists found that D614G mainly increases the rate of transmission in human cases.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said: “It exists in the spike protein which is a very important way that the coronavirus can enter human cells.
“We have been noticing in the UK and worldwide that this mutation has been increasing in frequency.”
The findings come after experts analysed more than 40,000 genomes in the UK.
Prof Loman added: “This mutation was predicted first by computer modelling to have some impact on the structure of that protein and the ability of the virus to bind and enter cells and then quite recently was shown in laboratory experiments to increase the infectivity of cells.”
NHS data states that over 45,000 people have died from the coronavirus, whereas data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) states that this number is closer to 56,000.
This week it was announced that Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and can train the immune system to fight disease.
Prof Loman said the new strain would not impact the course of scientists finding a suitable vaccine as this particular strain is already the most dominant and is seen in around 75 per cent of cases.
“This increase in this mutation is a worldwide phenomenon, the original virus out of Wuhan had the D-type, but the G-type has become much more dominant across the world, including the UK.”
He added that although it is present in most cases, that it would have a “small impact”.
“We’re not completely confident about that but we found by testing what happened in the UK, the viruses that contained the G-type of mutation seemed to form clusters of cases faster which ended up being bigger than viruses with the D-mutation.”
Prof Loman said there wasn’t any significant association with survival rates and the length of hospital stays for people who presented with that mutation.
“We don’t think this mutation is important in changing virulence, the effect seems to be on transmissibility”, he added.
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