[ad_1]
Hidden cases in the U.S. have doubled in the past two weeks, and scientists are now racing to understand the delta variant, which seems to be the majority of new infections. It is worrisome that the delta is more contagious than other variants and is also causing some symptomatic “progress” in the people involved.
Although vaccines still prevent serious illness and death, our views on the spread of the delta variant of coronavirus have changed. Here are some answers to some important questions about what this means.
1. What makes the delta variant more contagious?
According to CDC calculations, the delta variant is almost twice as contagious as previous versions of the virus. Researchers are still trying to understand these are the mutations that cause it, but preliminary research suggests that changes in its protein nail are more effective at reaching receptors and entering your cells.
It seems that the delta variant carries higher viral loads than other variants. The viral load is measured by how many viruses there are in the nose and throat. An examination they found that people with the delta variant at the beginning of the infection had a 1,000-fold higher burden of the virus than people infected with the original version of the virus. People with the Delta variant also achieved maximum viral load more quickly, according to this study, which has not yet performed a peer-reviewed study.
2. How do scientists measure how contagious the delta variant is?
The virus load helps us understand how contagious the virus is. Coronavirus infections are spread through aerosols and drops when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or breathes; so the more virus particles there are in someone’s airways, the more likely that person will be to infect someone else.
To measure viral load, researchers use a polymerase chain reaction, or a laboratory method called PCR. They swab the nose of an infected person and extract viral RNA from the swab. They then carry out the reaction by looking for genetic material from the virus and copying it over and over again until there are as many copies as the laboratory equipment can detect.
We usually focus on the final PCR game, whether a test detects virus material, which gives a positive result. But researchers can also see how long it took the machine to return that positive result – how many copies were needed to reach the level of detection of viral material. The fewer copies or cycles required to detect the virus, the more viral material there was.
This is the number of cycles in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — called the threshold of the cycle, or Ct. In one a set of cases in Provincetown, Massachusetts, included about 74% of the state’s population involved. People who had infections had similar Ct values, whether they were vaccinated or not. The CDC believes this may be an indicator vaccinated people can transmit the virus, perhaps as easily as uninserted people.
3. Can I still get sick with covido, even if it is vaccinated?
Yes, it is possible, but your infection will be much more severe than that of uninsulated people.
He says most infections are still in uninsulated people Liz Rogawski McQuade, Researcher in infectious diseases at the University of Virginia. According to the information Kaiser Family Foundation, U.S. states that are monitoring the status of vaccine cases have found that between 94% and 99.9% of cases are in unvaccinated people. And among all those who received the vaccine, there was a case of progress between 0.01% and 0.54%.
Some studies I found that the effectiveness of vaccines is slightly lower compared to the delta variant, especially if you get a single dose of the mRNA vaccine. But so far it seems vaccines still work to a large extent, especially to prevent many cases of serious illness, says Rogawski McQuad.
Vaccines would eventually require additional support against the delta variant – some companies do encourages booster shots. Experts say there is still no need for reinforcements WHO keeps it early vaccinations around the world should be a priority in order to improve the lives of people in rich countries.
4. What about transmission? Can embedded people spread the delta variant?
It seems so, but the research is still in its early stages.
Although Ct values can be used as a proxy for viral load, there are some problems with trying to assume too much of that number, especially for embedded people, according to Monica Gandhi, a researcher in infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco.
First, PCR collects all kinds of genetic material, even from dead viruses. If your embedded immune system starts fighting the infection, “you may have a lot of viral particles in your nose, but they may not work,” Gandhi says. To find out how contagious someone is, you need to take these viruses and see if they are capable of infecting people. The CDC has stated that these data are still relevant, Gandhi says.
[ad_2]
Source link
