There has been debate as to whether the B.1.1.7 variant (first found in Kent) is ‘just’ more transmissible or if it also causes more severe illness

This paper adresses this question

1/n https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00170-5/fulltext#.YHX4j2ju31o.twitter

The increased deaths seen during the 2nd wave could in theory have represented increased virulence _or_ overwhelmed health services.

This study is from several weeks before the peak of hospital admissions in London, before substantial strain on clinical care began

2/n

As surrogates for viral load, the authors used (1) Ct values (N-gene qRT-PCR assay) and (2) genomic read depths when sequencing

Both suggested that B.1.1.7 infections were associated with higher viral loads than were non-B.1.1.7 infections

3/n