10 Things To Know About Kent variant of Coronavirus

The head of U.K's genetic surveillance programme said that the coronavirus variant which was first found in the British region of Kent could erode the protection vaccines are providing against the existing virus. The variant was present all the country and would probably "sweep the world". The Kent coronavirus has already spread in more than 50 countries. It might become the dominant variant in the world sooner or later.

Here are 10 things to know about the Kent coronavirus

1. This variant of the coronavirus emerged in Kent, U.K. a few months ago and has quickly become dominant in most parts of the country. This is a more contagious and more deadly strain which has different symptoms.
2. As per the report of 35 per cent people who tested positive with Kent coronavirus, the most common symptom was cough. Muscle weakness and fatigue affected 32 per cent of the patients. 31 per cent of them reported headache.
3. A quarter of those who tested positive complained having muscle pain. Only 15 per cent people reported a loss of smell or taste.
4. The Kent coronavirus causes affected people to cough more as a result of which it spreads more easily. Thus, it is more contagious compared to other variants of the virus.
5.  Compared to the original Wuhan virus, this variant has 23 changes. Some of these alterations could affect the body's immune response and also affect the series of symptoms associated with the infection.
6. Studies reveal that the Kent variant has acquired a mutation quite similar to the South African variant. It is known as E484K and is resistant to vaccines. The antibodies produced to fight the older form of the COVID-19 coronavirus may fail to identify the new version.
7. If borders are closed, the spread of this virus may be slow down but that involves a huge economical cost. In order to prevent the transmission, U.K. is implementing a hotel quarantine system for travellers coming from selected countries.
8. This strain has taken away 2.35 million lives and has restricted the normal life of several others. Vaccines may have to be modified to fight this new variant of coronavirus and booster shots may have to be given to people to help them fight the virus.
9. Scientists say that some of the features which make this variant more easily transmissible can also make it more deadly. The stickiness of the mutation and how it gets into cells and replicates are the key ones. They have also observed that those who were affected by the earlier strain appeared to be unaffected by the new one.
10. It was inevitable that the strains already present in the U.K. would mutate because of natural selection. However, experts say that it is too early to conclude if the mutation would become dominant over other variants of coronavirus.