Thread by @DrEricDing

Increased transmission of new UK 🇬🇧 variant among kids?

➡️Early analysis "hints a higher propensity to infect children", says Neil Ferguson of @MRC_Outbreak.

"If (proven) true, might explain significant proportion, maybe majority, of increase” #COVID19
bbc.com/news/uk-554069…

2) “Prof Wendy Barclay said the mutations to the virus appeared to be making it easier to walk through the doorways that were there.

She said this could be putting children on a "more level playing field" with adults as the virus was "less inhibited" in children.

3) “Therefore children are equally susceptible, perhaps, to this virus as adults, and therefore given their mixing patterns, you would expect to see more children being infected."

Work to understand the new variant is taking place at lightning speed—still much uncertainty.

4) “Prof Julian Hiscox, chair in infection and global health, from the University of Liverpool, told the BBC there wasn't any evidence "at the moment" that the new variant is able to infect kids more efficiently. He said this would be looked at closely by scientists over Xmas”

5) It is now thought the new variant spreads 50% to 70% faster than other forms of the virus.

R of the new virus in UK now thought to be currently 1.2... At the same time the R number was 0.8 for the other forms of the virus during lockdown and they were in decline.

6) But were kids at lower risk than adults to begin with usual common strain?

A recent study of schools found that levels of virus in school-age children reflected levels in the local community, ie that closing schools would only have a temporary effect. bbc.co.uk/news/health-55…

7) More details on the latest findings on the mutation and implications for therapy in this other thread 🧵 below 👇

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1341231738249486337?s=21

8) For more technical details on the mutations in UK 🇬🇧 and South Africa 🇿🇦 , read this detailed thread 🧵

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1340911632147488768?s=21

9) And the biggest vaccine question... the founder of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine says this... see thread 🧵 below for details. Likely it’ll be fine for the vaccine but 2 weeks to know.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1341307612806205442