A recent CDC document said delta is more transmissible than the common cold, the 1918 Spanish flu, smallpox, Ebola, MERS and SARS has a longer transmission window than the original Covid-19 strain and may make older people sicker.
The Delta variant of the coronavirus, which now represents 90% of the contaminations in France, is very clearly responsible for the 4th wave of the epidemic in the country. And the fears on the reduced effectiveness of vaccines against this variant are increasing. If it does not know the reasons for its high transmissibility, the World Health Organization expects to see the Delta variant quickly become the majority of the Covid-19 contaminations in the world. Organization officials said they are still trying to understand why the delta variant is more transmissible and potentially makes people sicker than the original coronavirus strain.
“We’re really trying to get a better handle on why the delta variant is more transmissible,” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’S technical lead on Covid-19, said at a press briefing Friday. “There are certain mutations in the delta variant that, for example, allow the virus to adhere to a cell more easily. There is some laboratory studies that suggest that there’s increased replication in some of the modeled human airway systems.”
“They become more fit the more that they circulate and so the virus will likely become more transmissible because this is what viruses do they evolve, they change over time,” Van Kerkhove said.
She said it’s imperative that nations follow public health measures, like practicing social distancing and wearing masks, while nations distribute more vaccines around the world, especially in those with the lowest rates of immunization.
Delta, now in at least 132 countries and already the dominant form of the disease in the United States, is more transmissible than the common cold, the 1918 Spanish flu, smallpox, Ebola, MERS and SARS, according to the document. Only measles appears to spread faster than the variant.
Health officials said federal and state leaders should communicate to the public the benefits of getting vaccinated.
New data shows that the viral load is the same in infected vaccinated people as those who are not vaccinated, meaning vaccinated people are still contagious.
While the New England Journal of Medicine found that breakthrough cases are mild, symptoms can linger beyond six weeks.
The CDC warned House lawmakers that the delta variant sweeping across the country is as contagious as chickenpox, has a longer transmission window than the original Covid-19 strain and may make older people sicker, even if they’ve been fully vaccinated.
The warning on Thursday was made in a confidential document that was reviewed by CNBC and authenticated by the federal health agency.
“The war has changed,” officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote.
