Delta variant: what is the biological basis that promotes its ultra-rapid transmission

“The hallmark of the Delta variant is its high degree of transmissibility,” said Pei-Yong Shi, a virologist at the University of Texas at Galveston. And with this “natural speed” He is able to modify an amino acid in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, known as the S spike or peak. The same viral molecule responsible for recognizing and invading (and making) cells in the body.

Delta was not the first variant of SARS-CoV-2 to be modified and alter the way it replicates. The Alpha variant (originally from the UK) also registers an amino acid change, but is different from Delta. The available evidence suggests that the effect of the mutation was particularly profound in Delta.

An article recently published in Nature He published a series of publications which analyzed the behavior of the variant identified for the first time in India. One of the keys is what scientists call the pre-activated virus – that is, it spreads faster when it enters the human body. Besides, found that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein shears much more efficiently in Delta variant particles than in Alpha particles. Scientists have thus taken the results reported in May by virologist Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London.

Experts call this change P681R and it occurs in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The presence of this short chain of amino acids alerted scientists when the virus was first identified in China. As it was associated with a greater infectious capacity in viruses such as influenza, but had not previously been found in others sarbecovirus, the coronavirus family to which SARS-CoV-2 belongs.

“I believe that the virus succeeds in volume and speed“said Gary Whittaker, a virologist at Cornell University in New York. The scientist pointed out that this new variant (Delta) is “much more efficient, it crosses people and cells much faster”.

The Vice-President of the Latin American Society of Pediatric Infectology, Roberto Debbagexplained to Infobae What Delta’s strength does not lie only in the mutation of the S peak, which gives it “potentially higher transmissibility due to greater viral replication.”

Infectious scientist Debbag argues that there are other factors that also influence the speed at which this variant circulates. Among These factors highlight unvaccinated populations and host type. A complete vaccination schedule, with the application of the two doses, is essential to delay and stop its high circulation.

In Argentina, 174 cases of the Delta variant have been detected so far. Health Minister Carla Vizzotti warned that “traffic is still monitored, which is not yet predominant, but it is already” close “to being a community”.

The scientific community continues to accumulate evidence that the change of an amino acid is a hallmark of Delta, but they point out that this is unlikely to be the only mutation responsible for the intense spread of the variant. “It’s very simplistic to say it’s just this change. I think it’s the sum of it all, ”says Teresa Aydillo-Gomez, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City.

Recently, the Argentinian pediatric pathologist Marta Cohen -oriunda from La Plata- who currently works in the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, United Kingdom, provided Infobae some details about what you need to know about the variant of the coronavirus which affects so much the world and for which the alarms are triggered in our country.

The specialist gave three key facts to understand the Delta variant: On the one hand “the average incubation time is less than four days; than the most present a viral load 1,260 times higher than with the initial variant from Wuhan; and more than 50% of those infected are contagious before they have symptoms, according to researchers Guangdong, China, who studied 167 contacts of patients with COVID-19 with the Delta variant ”.

“This determines that the isolation of these patients must be early ”, The scientist pointed out that in recent months, and through her own videos posted on social media, she was providing key information on infection prevention methods and vaccine advances.

Recently interviewed exclusively by Infobae, Guillaume Haseltine, former professor of the Harvard Medical School and founder of the cancer research departments and HIV / PAGE of this university, he affirmed: “I can’t imagine an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only is there a human reservoir, but there are now animal reservoirs all over the world.”.

“Deer are 40% infected, voles are heavily infected, as are our dogs and cats. It remains to be seen what else is infected, but it is probably a lot, ”he added.

According to the North American scientist, businessman, author and philanthropist, “it is about targeting an endemic disease. As a child, I learned that hope is the remedy that makes you feel good for all other ailments. But there is another way to look at it: hope is the last evil as prevention to protect against other evils. It’s a double-edged sword and it can keep you from doing what you need to do. We hoped the virus wouldn’t come out of China, spread through the air, weaken or go away in summer, and change. We also hoped that vaccines would protect us from infection, transmission, disease and death. The facts have shown us that we must have more than hope ”.

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