Weather of Arabia - The delta mutant of the Corona virus has raised the world's concern after it became the dominant strain and has spread in more than 80 countries so far, and because it is more transmissible than the alpha mutator, it has raised new fears of claiming more lives and returning closure procedures.
While India is battling a second deadly wave of the Corona virus, the United Kingdom is witnessing a rise in cases of the virus, with the delta mutator causing more than 90% of new infections, and Germany also fearing another wave stimulated by the “delta” mutant, so what is the delta mutant? And how dangerous is it?
In October 2020, the first case of the delta mutant (B.1.617.2) coronavirus was recorded in the Indian state of Maharashtra, and since then the virus has spread widely throughout India and to other countries in the world.
The delta mutant is one of the four coronaviruses identified by the World Health Organization so far: alpha (B. 1.1.7), beta (B. 1.351), gamma (P. 1) and delta (B. 1.617.2). The delta mutant has multiple mutations, and although scientists do not know the exact function of these mutations at this point in time, they give the virus a greater ability to bind to human cells, and help it escape from the immune system.
Data from an executive agency of the UK Department of Health indicates that more than 90% of new cases of coronavirus in the UK are delta variant.
Agency research found that the “delta” variant (or Indian strain) was associated with a 64% increase in the chance of transmission compared to the “alpha” variant (British strain) that was first identified in the United Kingdom. The number of infections increased by 30,000 cases. From 2 to 9 June. Most of these cases have either not been vaccinated or have received only one dose of the vaccine.
Does the "delta" mutation increase the risk of death?
There is still little data available on whether the 'delta' variant causes more deaths. There were 42 deaths from the 'delta' variant in the UK between 1 February and 7 June. Among them, (23) cases did not receive the vaccine, (7) deaths were those who received the first dose of the vaccine more than 21 days ago, and (12) deaths were those who received the second dose more than two weeks ago.
But the "delta" mutation is more likely to cause an increase in the number of hospitalizations among infected people compared to the "alpha" mutation, which means that it is more lethal.
Pfizer-BioNTech is 6% less effective against the delta mutant in reducing symptoms after two doses than the alpha mutant, and AstraZeneca is 1% less effective.
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