Putian Epidemic Targets "Delta"! Demystifying the new crown variant strain who is more "poisonous"

As the Putian epidemic rebounded, people paid more and more attention to the topic of mutant strains. It is reported that on September 11, the Putian City Health Commission stated at a press conference that the Putian epidemic was preliminarily determined to be a mutant strain of the new crown virus-Delta.
What's the matter with the mutation of the new coronavirus? Which mutant strains are worthy of attention in the world? Is the vaccine still effective?
It is common for the new coronavirus to mutate
A virus is an organism without a cell structure. It has a protein shell on the outside and genetic material DNA or RNA inside. Therefore, viruses are divided into two types: DNA viruses and RNA viruses, and the new coronavirus belongs to RNA viruses.

DNA is a double helix structure, which is relatively stable and not prone to mutation. RNA is a single-stranded structure, which is very easy to mutate.

We can think of the self-replication process of RNA viruses as "copy work", but it does not check when copying work, so the error rate is extremely high and it is prone to mutation.

However, not all mutations will bring huge risks. Only some mutations will change the characteristics of the virus and increase the infectivity and toxicity of the virus.

Which mutant strains are more dangerous?

According to the degree of risk, the WHO divides the new crown variant strains into two categories.

One type is a variant strain (VOC) that is worthy of vigilance. It is characterized by a large number of cases worldwide, a wide range, a fast spread, and strong toxicity, or it may lead to a reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines and clinical treatments.

There are four main types of such mutant strains: α (alpha), β (beta), γ (gamma), and δ (delta).

Among them, the delta strain is the most important variant strain in the global epidemic. It has stronger transmission power, faster transmission speed, higher viral load, short incubation period, rapid onset, and high proportion of severe illness.

The other is a variant strain (VOI) that deserves attention. It is characterized by confirmed cases of community transmission worldwide, or has been found in multiple countries, but has not yet formed a large-scale infection. For example, in August last year, the lambda (lambda) mutant strain was first discovered in Peru.

Vaccines are still the world`s biggest hope

The protective effect of the vaccine is divided into three levels, the first level of infection prevention, the second level of disease prevention, and the third level of transmission prevention. The current positioning of Chinese vaccines is to prevent disease. In this regard, the protective effect of domestic vaccines is obvious.

Academician Zhong Nanshan once publicly stated, "Based on the study of the Guangzhou delta mutant virus in May, the protective effect of domestic vaccines against severe cases is 100%, and the protective effects against moderate, mild, and asymptomatic are 76.9% and 67.2%, respectively. , 63.2%."

It is undeniable that the antibody titers produced by the human body against the mutant strain may be reduced after being vaccinated with the new crown vaccine. However, experts from many countries said that the current vaccination is still effective, at least it can prevent severe illness and reduce deaths.

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