Yahoo Autos A baby with COVID-19 had 51,000 times more viral particles than other young patients, and experts aren't sure why
A baby in Washington, DC with COVID-19 was found to have 51,418 times more viral particles than typical patients.
Researchers later found the infection was a new variant of COVID-19, seen in at least eight other cases.
It's not clear whether this variant is more dangerous to children, and more research is needed.
A new coronavirus variant has emerged.
A very sick newborn, treated at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., was found to have not only a new variant of the novel coronavirus, but a viral load 51,418 times higher than other young patients, according to the Washington Post.
The new variant was identified recently when the researchers sequenced the genome of the virus from the baby, who treated in September and recovered, reported the Post's Ariana Eunjung Cha.
It's not clear how common or how risky this new variant might be. The database found eight other cases of this variant in the US mid-Atlantic region, according to a pre-print study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, on coronavirus variations in children.
The variant, researchers said, has a different type of spike protein structure that may make it more infectious.
It's not clear whether this new variant explains the huge number of viral particles detected in the infant's nose.