The delta COVID variant of the coronavirus was first discovered in India that led to the second wave of the pandemic in the subcontinent and has now further evolved into the Delta ‘plus’ variant that began to spread in the U.K, U.S, and Australian countries.
The SARS- COV2 virus that created the COVID19 pandemic has mutated into numerous infectious viruses. The table below shows the main reason that led to the mutation:
Colloquial Name | Variant Name | Cause of Mutation |
U.K Variant | Alpha (B.1.1.7) | Spike in protein |
South African Variant | Beta (B.1.135) | Spike in lineage |
Brazil Variant | Gamma (P.1) | Mutation in receptor binders |
Indian Variant | Delta (B.1.617.2) | Merging of two mutations |
WHO had recently announced that Greek naming system because:
Viruses are usually named after the location they originated from but in the case of the coronavirus, they are named from the location of the lab that found the variant.
Naming the variant after a location of discovery rather than the location of origin could undermine further research based on ethnicity, race, and several other conditions that could have caused the mutation.
The Greek naming system was adopted to make it easy for the public to understand the difference between the different variants.
The delta coronavirus is not a new virus. It previously infected birds and livestock, the current B.1.617 virus lineage has three mutations (B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2, B.1.617.3) that are currently infecting humans.
The root cause of this mutation is the merging of two or more mutated cells such as:
The Delta and Delta Plus variants are:
Common symptoms of the Delta and Delta Plus COVID variant are:
Immediate hospitalization is required in case of:
The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have shown beneficial results in controlling the infection and death rate in affected individuals.
The Delta COVID spread in the U.S is not as alarming as it is in other countries given the high vaccination rates. Research is being conducted to study the severity of the Delta ‘plus’ variant and which vaccines are beneficial against it.
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