BREAKING! Recombinant Delta and Omicron Variant Called Deltacron Has Finally Emerged In Cyprus According To Documented Genomic Data!
Source: Deltacron Variant Jan 09, 2022 2 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes ago
Health experts and medical researchers in Cyprus have announced the discovery of a new recombinant variant that they have named as Deltacron that is a combination of both a Delta variant and an Omicron variant.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/01/08/coronavirus-new-variant-discovered-in-cyprus/
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20220108/coronavirus-ultima-hora-omicron-13052499
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-08/cyprus-finds-covid-19-infections-that-combine-delta-and-omicron
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/08/cyprus-reportedly-discovers-a-covid-variant-that-combines-omicron-and-delta.html
(UPDATE:.9.35am Bkk: Thailand Medical News has received feedback from many international genomic specialists that the genomic sequencings of the so called Deltacron could be nothing more than contaminations as they do not cluster on a phylogenetic tree and have a whole Artic primer sequencing amplicon of Omicron in an otherwise Delta backbone. We hope to received more confirmations on these by Monday)
To date, genomic sequencing data from 25 hospitalized patients in Cyprus have showed that all of these patients are infected with the new
Deltacron variant.
Dr Leondios Kostrikis, a professor of Biology at the University of Cyprus and director of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology told media, “Currently there are a number of coinfections of Omicron and Delta. We have finally found a variant that is a combination of both.”
He said that his team had identified 25 samples taken in Cyprus, after sequencing 1,377 samples as part of a program for tracing possible mutations of the coronavirus in Cyprus.
Dr Kostrikis told local media that the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation shares the genetic background of the Delta variant along with some of the mutations of Omicron, hence it's named Deltacron.
Dr Kostrikis and his team have highlighted that they are more frequent in hospitalized patients for COVID-19 than in non-hospitalized positives.
He said, “We will see in the future if this variant is more pathological or contagious or if it will be displaced by the Delta or Omicron variants.”
He did however say that in his opinion it is most likely that it will be overshadowed by the Omicron variant as it is more contagious.
Dr Kostrikis explained that the new variant, which has been dubbed Deltacron, shares the genetic background of the Delta variant along with some of the mutations of Omicron.
He told media, “We have found a significant number of mutations only previously found in Omicron cases, wh
ich is different from other variants as it has 30 mutations. Ten of these new unique Omicron mutations were identified in these samples taken in Cyprus”.
Scientist around the world are worried about the fact that all 25 samples that identified the new variant came from patients that were hospitalized and were exhibiting disease severity, indicating that the new variant was likely more virulent and lethal.
Dr Kostrikis said, “The frequency of the mutations was higher among those in hospital which could mean there is a correlation between Deltacron and hospitalizations”.
He also acknowledged that the new variant seemed more lethal but stressed that more urgent studies are needed before anything can be assumed.
Dr Kostrikis said that the sequences of the 25 samples have been submitted to the GISAID database, which will make them available to the global scientific community.
Cyprus's Health Minister Michalis Hadjipandelas stated on Saturday that the new variant was not something to worry about at the moment and expressed pride in the country's scientists for discovering the new variant.
He told local media, "The groundbreaking research and findings of Dr Kostrikis’ team make us proud of our scientists as this research puts Cyprus on the international map when it comes to health matters.”
The Cyprus's Health Ministry plans to announce more information about the new variant in a press conference at the beginning of the week. The scientific name of the new variant has not been announced as of yet.
The health minister also said that as the specific variant has not been identified anywhere else in the world, this discovery could be of global interest.
Cyprus is currently in the grip of a fifth wave of the pandemic, which has caused new infections to soar to around 5,500 per day, in a population of less than a million.
The Cyprus National Surveillance Report on COVID-19 released on Friday said that a record number of 28,414 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed from Dec. 21, 2021 to Jan. 3, 2022. It said that the median age of infected people was 28 years, indicating a fast-spreading of the virus among the youths.
The deltacron variant comes as omicron continues its rapid spread across the globe, causing a surge in COVID-19 cases. In many regions and countries like Europe and the United States, there are actually two concurrent surges taking place ie one the Omicron and the second the newly emerging Delta-subvariants which authrorities and media are not talking about much. The Omicron has not totally displaced these Delta subvariants and hence the incidences of co-infections are also rising in these regions and countries that will see more possible recombinant events taking place.
For more on the
Deltacron variant, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.
PS: Some new interesting developments on twitter, many Americans are debating online that since the Delta originated from India and the Omicron from the African continent, the new variant should not be named as Deltacron but rather as the Kamala-Harris variant!
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