The Deltacron variant of Cyprus, the meste of Denmark ÓMICRON ... This is how it is mutating the Covid

After two years of pandemic, the Coronavirus has evolved to overcome its main threats: vaccines and collective immunity. The Muta virus is transformed into ne

The Deltacron variant of Cyprus, the meste of Denmark ÓMICRON ... This is how it is mutating the Covid

After two years of pandemic, the Coronavirus has evolved to overcome its main threats: vaccines and collective immunity. The Muta virus is transformed into new variants, with new incubation times, increasingly rapid, and new symptoms, in some milder cases but with greater capacity of contagion. After the wave of omicron, which has already spread widely throughout Europe, new names appear as Deltacron. This is the last hour of the new variants of the Covid.

The Cyprus authorities have reported 25 cases of Covid associated with a new variant, which have called Deltacron, and that would be a kind of mix between some omicron mutations and others of Delta, but some question this classification.

Professor Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biology of the University of Cyprus and director of the Biotechnology Laboratory and Molecular Virology, argues that the cases of Deltacron are more frequent among patients hospitalized by Covid.

Last Friday, the Genomic Sequences of the Coronavirus obtained in Cyprus were sent to the Gisaid International Database of the Pasteur Institute of Paris. Nothing is not known about the characteristics that this composite variant could have: if it will be more contagious, more lethal or, simply, if you can undermine omicron, which seems quite unlikely given the rapid infection capacity of this variant, which has It is allowed to impose all the others.

However, other scientists have suggested later that Leonidos Kostrikis findings are the result of cross-contamination in the laboratory. The professor has refuted criticism by remembering that "at least one sequence of Israel deposited in a global database shows the genetic characteristics of DeltaCron".

Beyond the discrepancies, it is normal for the virus to change continuously and there are many mutant sequences that are sent to the databases that collect the genomes: however, in almost three years of pandemic there are only five variants reported as "worrying" By the World Health Organization (WHO) and some of them have disappeared, mainly supplanted by Delta and ÓMICRON.

Of great interest is a variant sister of omicron that may have been developed autonomously almost at the same time and that researchers are monitoring. To define it, researchers have created two sublinages of B.1.1.529: BA.1, that is, omicron, and the new "anomalous" lineage called BA.2.

The alarm has come from Denmark: BA.2 may have become dominant on BA.1. The country is one of the best in the world in terms of sequences and local data reported in the international gisaid sequencing portal show a massive growth of the "new" lineage.

In recent days, numerous BA.2 genomes have also been reported from South Africa, Australia and Canada. Currently, the greater number of sequences related to the variant in question come from 82% of Denmark, 7% of Sweden, 3% from India. Both sublinages have almost all mutations of the SPIKE protein detected initially for omicron, but the BA.2 lineage maintains some delta.

It is difficult to differentiate from omicron because it does not have the deletion of the gene s that allows you to suspect that it belongs to the omicron variant directly from the test. To identify the variant BA.2 it is necessary to sequence all the samples, and this implies a laboratory capacity that not all countries have. That is why the data of Denmark are important. Also in this case it is necessary to wait and continue monitoring: many variants have been born and have been confined in some areas without spreading or generating concern.

Recently, another variant named B.1,640.2 has been identified in the IHU Méditerranée Infection of Marseille and renamed precisely as IHU. The mutations presented would have 46, 37 deletions, therefore more than omicron. In any case, it seems a limited variant to the 12 surveillance patients: the WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove has reminded that the "mother" of this subvainment, B.1,640, has already been classified as a "variant in follow-up" (Vum) In November, which would suggest that it has no capacity to supplant the predominant variants.

Date Of Update: 11 January 2022, 11:26