JHU COVID Researcher Predicts Lambda Variant ‘Will Have a Problem’ in US

As health officials brace for the spread of another variant of the coronavirus, Lambda, researcher says she believes the mutation “will have a problem” to become the dominant strain in the United States

Dr Anna Durbin, professor in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said News week that the Lambda variant “is going to have a problem here in the US and that’s the Delta variant.”

“These viruses are all competing with each other for the benefit of being the one that survives,” Durbin said. “We know that the Lambda variant has some of the same mutations as the Delta variant that we believe [will] allow it to be more transmissible, so it would be difficult to compete with the Delta variant. “

While the Lambda variant, which was first detected in Peru and spread mainly to South America, accounts for only 0.17% of variant cases in the United States, the Delta variant is responsible for more of 93% of circulating cases in the United States.

Durbin believes that because the Delta variant has become so prevalent in the United States, Lambda will not be able to compete with the highly transmissible strain that is currently sweeping across the country.

“It’s the survival of the fittest,” she said. “You have these viruses that replicate and they get mutations. The one that can replicate for the higher titer or be transmitted better is the one that is going to survive because this one is going to spread more easily and the other variants go on. somehow just die. “

This is the same reason why the Delta variant is currently the dominant strain.

The Alpha variant, which was first identified in the UK and has been shown to increase transmission by 50% compared to the original virus, swept across the US in the spring and became the most common strain in April.

But the arrival of the Delta variant in March knocked Alpha out of the top spot, rising sharply to become the most dominant strain of the coronavirus.

Delta, first identified in India, is not only more transmissible, but has been shown to be more resistant to vaccines, which is why there have been a higher number of breakthrough cases among those vaccinated amid the last wave.

With the Delta variant soaring, Durbin explained that other variants, like Gamma, have failed to take hold.

She said that because the Delta variant gained a foothold before the Lambda variant in the United States, she does not see Lambda being able to enter and compete with Delta, just as the Delta variant would be unable to sweep America. South from Lambda. claimed the territory there first.

Durbin said that while she doesn’t think the Lambda variant can outperform the Delta variant in its current state, it’s possible that Lambda will continue to mutate and become more powerful than Delta.

“Could there be other mutations occurring to make it more transmissible than Delta? That’s definitely a possibility,” Durbin said Thursday. “At this point in South America, the Lambda variant is competing with the Alpha variant or the original Wuhan strain and it certainly has a competitive advantage, but I think it loses that competitive edge when it comes up against the Delta variant. “

She said the only way to get to a place where the stronger variants would not pose a threat to public health was to vaccinate enough people around the world.

“As long as this virus is circulating in unimmunized people, mutations will occur,” she said. “We have to vaccinate the world if we are to stop this virus from mutating and it is a really, really difficult task to do, but it is something that we have to put all our efforts on.”

Given the effectiveness of the Delta variant vaccines, Durbin said vaccinated individuals should also be protected against the Lambda variant.

“[People] should definitely take precautions, but for the most part yes, if you are vaccinated you need to be sure you are protected, ”she said.

She pointed out that although people vaccinated can still get sick, vaccines do their job to limit the severity of the virus and prevent people from requiring hospitalization.

“Unfortunately, because these vaccines have been so effective, our expectations haven’t really been realistic,” Durbin said. “It is unrealistic to think that these vaccines will prevent infection. This is not what vaccines do. It is not what natural infection does. You are not protected for the rest of your life. life against reinfection, but you are protected against serious illness. “

Although the United States has administered at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine to 58% of its total population and has fully immunized nearly 50% of the population, less than 30% of the world’s population has received at least dose. Globally, only 15 percent have been fully immunized.