The Delta variant is now in the country, which has generated concern in the scientific community and the population. This new mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is doubly as contagious as the original.
There are multiple variants of the coronavirus spread. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified them based on the Greek alphabet and prioritized them according to whether they correspond to concern or interest variants.
All viruses mutate eventually, but some of their changes can impact their properties—the degree of transmissibility, severity of the disease, or the performance of vaccines.
Consider the delta variant is the concern of a variant since it meets the three evaluation criteria provided by the WHO:
- Increase in transmissibility or harmful change in the epidemiology of Covid-19
- Increase in virulence or change in presentation disease clinic
- Decrease in the effectiveness of social and public health measures or available diagnoses, vaccines, and therapeutics.
What is the Delta variant of Covid-19?
India registered its first Delta variant, where it is prevalent. It is a strain with 60% more transmissibility than the one of origin. According to scientific evidence, which Public Health England provides, there may be an association causing more hospitalizations.
What are the symptoms of that Delta variant of Covid-19?
The symptoms of delta variant that can alert us that we are present before this new variant is:
- Headache
- Throat pain
- Nasal secretions
- Fever
- Cough
Specialists recommend that if any of these symptoms seem in you, and if you have had contact with someone who has traveled from abroad, you should go to a health center for a PCR test.
Are vaccines useful for this new strain?
The vaccines against Covid-19 present in the country are safe and effective in preventing severe illness and death. Vaccination is likely to reduce the spread of all variants and reduce the chances of new and even more dangerous emerging. That is why the call of specialists is to get vaccinated urgently.
As for the Delta variant, what is known is that it may maintain a degree of protection of the vaccine. Recent studies evaluated immunization in people vaccinated with Pfizer and AstraZeneca for the Delta variant. Both had effective results in immune response and prevention of hospitalizations. There is still no research that has studied the effects of the Sinovac vaccine. However, the vaccine recommends this formula. Still, the vaccine has to evaluate whether to resort to new doses.
What precautions can we take to prevent its rapid spread?
The precautions we take to prevent its rapid spread are taking extreme care, using a surgical mask, complying with social distancing, and washing hands frequently.
We are facing a situation of concern about our responsibility to take care of ourselves. For those who are not vaccinated, the call is to do so as soon as possible.
