A highly infectious coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom (opens in new tab) is now spreading rapidly in the United States. This variant, B.1.1.7, has been detected in at least 34 states so far (opens in new tab) and is expected to continue circulating.

A new preprint study (opens in new tab) estimates that the number of people infected with this variant is doubling every nine days in the United States, with infection rates rising up to 45%. The researchers write, "Our study indicates that the United States is following a similar trajectory to other countries where B.1.1.7 rapidly became the predominant SARS-CoV-2 subtype, requiring immediate and decisive action."

In a January report (open in new tab), researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that B.1.1.7 could become the predominant strain of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus (open in new tab) that causes COVID-19, by March. A separate report (opens in new tab) from the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group found that B.1.1.7 infection has a "real possibility" of being "associated with an increased risk of mortality" compared to other virus strains. [Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a January 35 interview with Today that the findings are "concerning. Although the data have not yet been officially released, the preliminary data analyzed by British scientists convince us that the actual infections could be severe." [B.1.1.7 Here is what experts know so far about the coronavirus variants and what you can do to protect yourself.

Coronavirus variants like B.1.1.7 began to emerge after the original dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 began to mutate. It is important to remember that all viruses mutate. While not always a cause for concern, one should be wary of viruses that begin to spread rapidly.

"When SARS-CoV-2 replicates, errors rarely occur," Stanley H. Weiss, M.D., a professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Rutgers School of Public Health (opens in new tab), previously told Prevention.com ( opens in new tab) told Prevention.com (opens in new tab)." Most of these are flawed, do not replicate very well, are not inherited, and are not important. Occasionally, wrong combinations or mutations occur.

B.1.1.7 is notable for its many mutations, six important ones to be exact (opens in new tab).

The CDC reports that B.1.1.7 is estimated to have emerged in the UK in September 2020 and is associated with "more efficient and rapid transmission." It is currently detected in several countries, including the United States and Canada.

The B.1.1.7 variant was first identified in the United States in December. A man in his 20s in Colorado with no reported travel history tested positive and was quarantined and recovered.

Since then, according to CDC data (open in new tab), nearly 1,000 B.1.7 cases have been confirmed in 34 states at the time of publication. Florida and California, in particular, have significantly higher numbers of B.1.1.7 cases. This number is expected to increase nationally in the coming months.

There is much that scientists don't know about this variant, but "so far there seems to be no difference in symptoms," says Pratit Kulkarni, M.D., assistant professor of infectious disease medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (opens in new tab).

As a result, there is "no way" to know whether your symptoms are due to the SARS-CoV-2 prototype or B.1.1.7, says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York (opens in new tab). Only testing can tell if you have this variant," he says."

This means that one should watch for the most common signs of COVID-19 (open in new tab): fever, chills, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle and body aches, headache, loss of taste and smell (open in new tab), sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhea.

The data to date indicate that this is so. In fact, a preprint study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (open in new tab) estimates that the B.1.1.7 variant is 56% more infectious than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. Another study by researchers at Imperial College London (opens in new tab) found that the viral fecundity (the average number of infected individuals who pass on the virus) of B.1.1.7 was 1.45. The number before the appearance of the variant was 0.92.

B.1.1.7 was first detected in the UK in September, but by November the variant accounted for a quarter of cases in London, according to the BBC; by the week of December 9, it accounted for 60% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in London. Says Dr. Kulkarni, "Data are emerging to suggest that the new variant is 50-60% more infectious than the previously most widely circulating strain."

Data also suggest that B.1.1.7 is more likely to infect children, scientists from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group in the UK told reporters in mid-December. Professor Neil Ferguson, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Imperial College London, told Reuters, "We have not yet established causality, but we can confirm it in the data. We need to collect more data to see how it will behave in the future".

Moderna (opens in new tab) and Pfizer (opens in new tab), the makers of the COVID-19 vaccine (opens in new tab) currently approved for use in the US, have stated that their vaccine is up to 95% effective against B.1.1.7 B.1.1.7. Novavax, currently in phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S., announced in late January (opens in new tab) that its vaccine is almost 86 percent effective against B.1.1.7.

In addition to B.1.1.7, other highly infectious variants have been detected in the United States, including those emerging from Brazil (opens in new tab) and South Africa. There is no need to panic over this, but it should serve as a reminder that it is not time to give up "following common sense precautions," infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adarja, M.D., senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (open in new tab) says.

"The core public health recommendations also remain the same," says Dr. Kulkarni. Avoid large gatherings, keep socially distant from people outside the home, wash hands frequently (opens in new tab), and continue to wear a face mask that fits snugly over the nose and mouth (opens in new tab)."

Especially in high-risk environments, such as crowded buses or crowded grocery store lines, experts (including Dr. Fauci (open in new tab)) say that double masking (open in new tab) (wear a surgical or KN95 mask unless it restricts breathing, and then a cloth mask), or a face shield over a face mask.

Dr. Russo emphasized that "there may be more variations of COVID-19 in the future" and that the response should be adjusted accordingly.

This article was current at press time. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses rapidly and the scientific community's understanding of this new coronavirus evolves, some of the information may have changed since the last update. While we aim to keep all of our articles up-to-date, please refer to online resources provided by the CDC, WHO, and your local public health department for the most current information. Always consult your physician if you need professional medical advice.