A new study @TheLancetPH today questions the higher B.1.1.7 lethality in a small sample of hospitalized patients with viral sequencing, before there was resource limitation https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00170-5/fulltext">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/... https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1377358072314654720">https://twitter.com/EricTopol...
It is at odds with the prior multiple, much larger independent reports of higher lethality (~1.6X), as also pointed out in the accompanying editorial (Table), which were community-based and did not use whole genome sequencing https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00201-2/fulltext">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/...
Another study @TheLancetInfDis confirms higher transmissibility of B.1.1.7 (as did the other, vs ancestral strain) and highlights its lack of reinfection risk (cf ancestral) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00055-4/fulltext">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/...
Good coverage, breakdown of these papers @NBCNews by @denisechow https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/uk-variant-isnt-linked-severe-disease-death-study-finds-rcna658">https://www.nbcnews.com/science/s...