Dr. Dipwad
Experienced
Thanks. Once I had the correct keywords for doing so "L strain S strain" I was able to find some articles.There are two strains, the S and L strains. The L is much more lethal.
This one explains the two strains:
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...are-there-two-strains-and-is-one-more-deadly/
...but it describes the L strain as being more "prevalent" and also, "[The L-type] might be more aggressive in transmitting itself...."
I don't see any article claiming that the L strain is more lethal, however (if by "lethal" one means "those infected are more likely to die or become seriously ill"). Did you find an article which said as much?
Either way, here's one piece of good news:
Good to know.Commenting on the [research about the two strains], Dr Michael Skinner, reader in virology at the Imperial College London, said it was too early to speculate on any practical consequences based on what he called an “interesting observation”.
He added: “At the moment there’s no sign that it will affect vaccination strategies, as (unless I’m mistaken) the mutations don’t seem to have affected the sequence of the S1 spike protein which is the antigen most people are targeting for vaccine production.”