[ad_1]
Experts are only discovering the habits of the Delta variant, the main driver of the current COVID outbreak in the United States. As if all of those unknowns and half-knowns weren’t enough, there is another variation that gives researchers goosebumps. Yes, Lambda. This variant may be resistant to COVID vaccines and even more infectious, but with just 3,958 verified cases worldwide (and 851 in the United States), many researchers are still watching and waiting.
Before we panic (can we still do it?): Lambda is a mutation of COVID-19, which means the public shouldn’t throw out our good habits and learned warnings out the window. It’s not March 2020, when public health experts thought handwashing would solve our problems and laughed at the cautious few who were masquerading. Vaccines and masks will significantly slow the spread of the variants. Virologists aren’t starting from scratch either. There are a lot of things they can guess from the limited data on Lambda.
The bottom line? Now is the time to be safe as hell. The unknowns about Delta and Lambda are numerous, the known ones are worrying and the children are still not vaccinated. But we’ve been through this before, and though it sucks, we can do it again.
What is the Lambda variant?
The Lambda variant is a mutated version of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It’s called a “kind of cousin of the Alpha variant.Lambda was first discovered in Lima, Peru, in December 2020. In June, the World Health Organization added the variant to its watchlist due to how quickly it has moved to across South America.
WHO has named Lambda a “variant of interest,” one step below the designation given to Delta: variant of concern. Meanwhile, the CDC is not including Lambda on its official watch list, although it has said it “will continue to actively monitor this variant. “
Where is the Lambda variant?
The Lambda variant is mainly found in South America. It constitutes the large majority new cases in Peru and has spread to Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. In total, Lambda was detected in at least 36 countries to date and in 44 US states. But compared to Delta, its progress has been slow.
Genetic sequencing has just identified 851 cases of COVID caused by lambda in the United States, eight such cases were recorded last month. Although the United States does not sequence all cases, experts are still convinced that Lambda does not have a large footprint in the country. For comparison, Delta was first registered in the United States in March, and nearly 60,000 U.S. cases have been linked to the variant since then.
Does the Lambda variant spread faster or differently?
It is feared that Lambda carries two mutations that could make it more infectious than the original virus. One of these mutations, called L452Q / R, Lambda has in common with the Delta variant, according to a preprint study from Tokyo researchers that has yet to be peer-reviewed.
However, there is no data yet demonstrating that Lambda makes people sicker, spreads faster, or escapes the vaccine. This is what it will take for the WHO to call it a variant of concern.
Is the Lambda variant more deadly?
There is not enough evidence to know whether Lambda kills more people than the original COVID-19 virus. Peru, the country where lambda is most widespread, has the Highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. But researchers did not directly attribute the country’s devastating COVID-19 results to the Lambda variant. Even though Lambda is to blame for the deaths in Peru, experts say it is unlikely to take off in the United States similarly due to the dominance of the Delta variant.
Do COVID Vaccines Stop Lambda?
Data is divided on how Lambda measures up to COVID vaccines. The same Tokyo preprint study found that Lambda has three mutations that make it resistant to the antibodies produced by the vaccine.
However, research done at New York University, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that the antibodies produced by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were slightly reduced. Overall, however, the vaccines were still very effective in combating the Lambda and Delta variants. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was much less effective against Lambda, according to the preprint study.
What do the experts say about the Lambda variant?
“It’s not as worrying as the Delta variant”, S. Wesley Long, MD, PhD, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital, told the Washington post. “This is the engine that will drive the surge in the United States”
“Delta is clearly dominating at the moment. And so I think our focus can stay on Delta as a feature of a highly infectious variant ”, Stuart Ray, MD, professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said NPR.
“[Lambda] does not really seem to take off once reported in a country ”, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO COVID-19 technical officer, said in a press conference. And while Lambda has been reported in almost 40 countries, most of those countries report fewer than 10 sequences, she said.
How worried should parents (and kids) be?
The WHO and US federal organizations are actively monitoring the spread of Lambda. But for now, Lambda’s low transmission means it shouldn’t be a major cause for concern for your family. The steps you are already taking to prevent other variants, like getting vaccinated and masking in crowded indoor environments, are exactly what you should be doing to protect yourself and your family from the Lambda variant.
[ad_2]
Source link