General
How do the COVID-19 variants found in the UK and South Africa affect the illness? Why are they more infectious? And will they make you sicker?
The image of coronavirus has become recognised globally because of its distinctive spikes.
Key points:
- The UK and South African variants of COVID-19 have the same mutation in their spike, but are two different variants because of other changes
- Early indicators suggest they are more transmissible, but probably don’t make people more ill
- They could be more contagious because they give hosts higher viral loads and have better receptors, making them more “sticky” to recipients
Now two of the most globally significant variants of the virus, one from South Africa and the other from the United Kingdom, have both shown an identical mutation in that same spike.
Professor Gilda Tachedjian, president of the Australasian Virology Society, said it…
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