DELTA VARIANT: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SCIENCE

By Uduak Effiong

New infections, Increased transmission, and new mask guidelines and mandates! The Delta variant is causing an increase in COVID-19 infections across the United States, raising concerns about the pandemic’s course.
This highly contagious Delta variant was discovered in March in India and currently accounts for over 93% of coronavirus cases in the country1. Due to the recent increase in infection rate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated individuals living in high-transmission areas resume masking in public indoor spaces, providing evidence that the Delta variant can generate more viral loads in fully vaccinated individuals’ throats and noses.

While scientists believe that vaccinations can provide effective protection against Delta variant infection, particularly against severe disease and death, concerns still remain. In this article, we will discuss if the delta variant is more infectious than the previous strains of Covid -19? Is the delta variant more deadly? and what safety measures do we need to adopt to tackle this delta variant situation?

IS DELTA VARIANT MORE INFECTIOUS THAN THE PREVIOUS STRAINS OF COVID-19?
The Delta variant is more contagious, two times more infectious than the previous variants. Delta virus’s high infection rate might be a result of its fast replication within the body. For instance, according to Chinese research, people infected with the Delta variant can have a viral load 1,000 times more compared to those individuals infected with the original virus.
Additionally, this Chinese study discovered that delta virus can be detected more quickly in people infected with the Delta virus; four days earlier than people infected with the original virus (4 days vs 6 days after exposure). Similarly, another study discovered that people infected with delta variant remain infectious for an extended period (eighteen days vs thirteen days).
Previously, the COVID 19 virus originated from Wuhan was able to infect only 2.4-2.6 persons and coronavirus emerged in Europe have the capability to infect 3 more persons. While the newly emerged strains of Covid 19, the Alpha strain can infect 4 to 5 people and Delta strain can infect 5 to 8 people. That number of infected people is more than the number infected by other strains of COVID-19. Thus, it is safe to assume that Delta variant is more infectious than the previous strains of COVID-19.

IS DELTA VARIANT DEADLY?
There is currently insufficient evidence to determine if the delta variant causes more fatalities. What is known is that 117 patients out of 92,056 people infected with the delta form died between January 1 and June 21 in the UK. This shows a mortality rate of 0.1%, which is quite low in contrast to other Covid-19 variations.
However, scientists believe that this low mortality rate is primarily due to the fact that a large portion of the UK population is now vaccinated against the coronavirus, but that does not indicate that the delta variant is less serious than the previous strains.
Indeed, the hospitalization rate recorded far from the United Kingdom shows that delta variant causes a more severe form of illness rather than a milder course of illness.
Protection Against Delta Variant
Vaccination is the most effective method of protecting yourself, your family, and your community against disease. Increased vaccination coverage will slow down the spread of the virus and will avoid the emergence of new strains. As per CDC recommendations, everyone of age 12 and older should be vaccinated immediately.

At this point, while we increase vaccine coverage across the country, we must employ all known preventive methods, including masking inside in public areas, to stop transmission of COVID-19 and to put an end to the pandemic.

References
⦁ Dagpunar J. Interim estimates of increased transmissibility, growth rate, and reproduction number of the Covid-19 B.1.617.2 variant of concern in the United Kingdom. medRxiv. 2021; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.03.21258293external icon
⦁ Bernal JL, Andrews N, Gower C, et al. Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jul 21; doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2108891exter
⦁ Chia PY, Ong SWX, Chiew CJ, et al. Virological and serological kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant vaccine-breakthrough infections: a multi-center cohort study. 2021; doi:doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261295e.