Why is Delta variant so transmissible?-By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Transcript:
Let us discuss the present and the future of the plight we are faced in with the Delta variant of SARSCoV2 virus and learning to live with it.
Let’s look forward and upwards.
We understand this Delta variant much better now than when it was first identified in India in December 2020.
Delta variant is very worrying, it is highly contagious, highly transmissible, undergoing changes, and will be with us with more mutations for a very long time.
While antibodies from COVIC-19 infection, not the vaccine, may offer some degree of protection against another future COVID infection, those who have already had the virus may still be vulnerable to the Delta variant, the current predominant strain, which is more contagious than the previous variants.
So having had the COVID-19 infection is no guarantee that you will not get a breakthrough infection.
On the breath one could say, after having both coronavirus vaccine jabs of any kind is not a guarantee that you are immune from further COVID-19 infections.
It is also becoming true that those people who have had their 2nd vaccine jab, the antibodies formed in your body may wane within months and the need for a third booster may be required.
It is also becoming a fact that if you are unvaccinated and not practicing preventive strategies is at high risk for infection by the new Delta variant.
A Mayo Clinic study, for example, found the Moderna vaccine had an 86% effective rate at preventing infection with the Alpha variant, compared to 76% for Pfizer’s vaccine.
But, against the Delta variant, Moderna’s effectiveness fell to 76% and Pfizer’s dropped all the way to 42%.
So, why clamour for the Pfizer vaccine.
Preliminary data from seven states in the US. suggests that breakthrough COVID-19 infections among vaccinated people may be on the rise due to the more contagious Delta variant.
Breakthrough cases accounted for about 1 in 5 newly diagnosed cases in six of the states, according to The New York Times. Hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinated people may be higher than previously thought as well.
So where do we stand?
When will the good old days come back? That is the question.
“The Delta variant will still infect people who have been vaccinated”.
Delta variant has become the normal variant in so many countries and superseded alpha beta and gamma variants.
Vaccine against future Delta variants that mutate frequently, will be annual jabs in future, may replace the flu shot.
This variant has spread to at least 90 countries and is supposed to be 50 per cent more transmissible than the previous alpha and beta variants and the original coronavirus that caused the pandemic.
Neutralizing antibodies from COVID-19 vaccination circulate in the body, recognize, and bind to the virus, and stop it from entering cells and replicating
But it is found that the delta variant is less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies produced in your body against this variant.
We must realize that the trials for the vaccine efficacy occurred prior to Delta becoming the predominant variant.
A report in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in April showed that 33 participants who had received the Moderna vaccine during the Phase I trial had a gradual decline in antibody protection
Our body has a specialized search- and destroy army. Antibodies are key players in that fight. They are Y shaped proteins that bind to the body’s foreign invaders and signal the immune system to get to work.
It is the T cells that can kill virus-infected cells, which should provide important protection.
They can be called the search battalion of the immune system’s search and destroy the invaders.
Neutralizing antibody levels are highly predictive of immunity protection against this variant.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus is smart enough to evade the neutralizing antibodies and cause more havoc by further transmission, being resistant to neutralization
Antibodies bind to the invaders, which triggers a cascade of actions to destroy the invader. They are part of the “adaptive” immune system.
Most people who had there two vaccinations are getting worried because many of them have got the Delta variant re-infection, and the scientists don’t have answers.
Though the immune system protects the body, in the case of the Delta variant seems to be not functioning properly
One consolation is that most COVID reinfections vaccination will keep patients out of the hospital, and that is the most important thing vaccinations can do.
Is this scientific fact true, yes in theory but we are aware of so many people who got breakthrough re-infections and demised after hospitalization?
Vaccinated people appear to be getting the coronavirus at a surprisingly high rate.
It is fortunate to note and predict the immunity induced by the mRNA vaccines is stronger and more reliable than natural immunity produced by contact through the COVID-19 infection.
That may be because the natural immunity varies from person to person.
So, it is necessary to vaccinate people who have already had the COVID-19 infection.
One of the best-known outbreaks among vaccinated people occurred in the small beach town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, as thousands of vaccinated and unvaccinated alike gathered on dance floors and at house parties over the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate the holiday — and what seemed like a turning point in the pandemic. About three-fourths of the 469 infections were among vaccinated people.
This incident prompted CDC to recommend wearing a mask regardless of vaccination status.
It was revealed that in Israel, it was found after the second jab, the protection weakened, and recently the breakthrough cases needed hospitalization.
Studies also show that Delta replicates more quickly in the human cells and generates more virus particles than other variants, though vaccines still seem to protect against serious infections.
Nevertheless, many studies have shown that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines still protects against Delta, though not as well as against previous variants.
Most of the new cases of COVID-19 infections are unvaccinated people, as much as 90% of them.
Other factors that lead to the rapid spread of COVID-19 is due to the causes that man has created, driven by relaxed social distancing and poor mask guidelines, and not obeying the government restrictions.
The focus back is on prevention, in addition to having the vaccinations. In the UIS early COVID vaccinations have saved almost 140,000 US deaths.
Early vaccination prevents death
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, more than 625,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 since January 2020. As of August 23, 2021, about 51.5% of the US population have been fully vaccinated to help protect them from the disease. A recent study in the journal Health Affairs estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths that the U.S. has averted because of its vaccine distribution may be close to 140,000.
Hope this presentation was useful. Go for the two jabs soon. See you again, Stay safe and Goodbye for now.
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