Is the covid-19 Delta variant dangerous?

Although vaccinated people have a lower risk of serious COVID-19, an increase in coronavirus cases can affect their health in other ways. There are certain areas of the country where there will be dense outbreaks. These are those with low vaccination rates and low pre-infection rates, say health experts, many of whom reside in rural and southern communities. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46.1% of the entire US population is vaccinated against COVID.

According to Public Health England, early data suggests delta variants are more likely to lead to hospitalisation than alpha. An analysis of 38,805 case sequences in England found that the delta variant was associated with a 26.1 times higher hospitalization risk 14 days after the date of sample compared to the alpha variant. A recent study from PHA11 found that people who received at least one vaccine dose were 75% more likely to be hospitalized than people unvaccinated, while those who were protected were 94% less likely to be hospitalized.

Data from Scotland support these findings and suggest that those infected with the delta variant are more than twice as likely to be hospitalised as those infected with the alpha variant. 20,000 infections were recorded in people receiving a COVID vaccination dose 21 days after the first dose of the total 92,029 delta variants. 7,235 infections were confirmed in people receiving two doses.

These data remind us that the COVID vaccine is far from providing 100% protection and, with authorised vaccines expiring, experts urge those who are not vaccinated to come forward because it is important to have all doses in order to achieve the best possible protection.

This means that in countries where the delta variant is widespread, it is crucial to vaccinate a large proportion of the population. In countries like the US, where half the population is already vaccinated, scientists suspect that the delta version will have different effects. It reckons the number of cases could soar in areas of the country with low vaccine supplies for delta.

Health officials have raised concerns about the delta strains' ability to transmit from person to person and cause serious diseases. Shahid Jameel, a leading virologist in India, said that the delta variant could render a cocktail of antibodies and treatments as the ones given to former US President Donald Trump ineffective in the fight against the disease. The good news is that vaccines are more effective against the transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant called delta based on data from two vaccines, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The delta variant, a subline of the delta variant with an additional mutation (see "Worrying variant"), was published in the Public Health England Bulletin on 11 June. It carries the K417N mutation found in the affected variants, which appears to reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody cocktails to treat the virus, according to Reuters. India has also identified a worrying delta variant, which indicates that it is more transmissible than any known delta variant, binds differently to the receptors of lung cells than other delta variants and may be more susceptible to treatment with monoclonal antibodies produced by infected patients, according to a statement cited by BBC. The delta variant contains an additional mutation called K 417N, which is part of the protein tip of the virus that binds to cells at the onset of infection.

“I do not believe that India or any other world has published or collected enough data to distinguish the risk of Delta Plus from the dangerous and worrying original Delta variant “, he told BBC. According to the latest report by Public Health England (PHE) the delta variant has become the dominant variant in the UK and 74% of the sequenced cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections and 96% of sequenced genotype cases are caused by this variant. The B16172 line is the only known delta variant detected in India until December 2020, and it has at least a dozen mutations, including multiple delta-plus peaks in the protein, making it more contagious, potentially deadly and vaccine resistant than other strains.

The transmissible COVID-19 delta variant, now known as B16172, was first found in India in December 2020. By 14 June 2021, it had reached at least 74 countries in the six months since its discovery.

The worldwide increase in COVID-19 cases is associated with the highly transmitted delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus. In the United States, the delta variant accounts for about 20 percent of the coronaviruses analyzed, and cases have doubled in the past two weeks. It also contributed to rising cases in India, Nepal, Britain, Portugal and Australia, according to Ewen Callaway in Nature News.

It is only a matter of time before the delta variant tries to dominate in Denmark and Great Britain, who are world leaders in genomic surveillance, said Albertsen. He hopes that the spread of the delta variant will be slowed down by vaccinations, surveillance and improved contact tracking. Studies have shown that vaccines in preventing COVID-19 symptoms in the highly transmitted delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus are effective in preventing COVID-19 symptoms but the availability of this variant can spread in places where vaccines are not available or communities where people are not vaccinated.

Andrea Ammon, head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control today warned this variant accounted for 90 % of COVID 19 cases in the EU at the end of August. It also appears to have caused an increase in Russia, Indonesia and many other countries.

Earlier this year, scientists estimated that Lineage B117 - the alpha variant isolated in England - was sixty percent more transmissible than the original version of SARS-CoV-2. Experts now believe that the delta variant is also 60 percent transmissible from this line, making it the most contagious virus that will tear the world apart in 2020. If it proves to be fatal to even one person, its greater transmissibility could cause greater damage to the population, depending on how many people remain unvaccinated if it strikes