Its been almost two years and coronavirus continues to be the main concern of health experts and governments across the world. Where health technology is advancing to fight the deadly pandemic, the virus is also advancing, mutating and raising the concerns of humankind.
So far, the delta virus is considered to be the deadliest as it is highly transmissible and can infect people at a concerning rate. It is dubbed as the fastest and fittest strain of Covid.
Here’s why the delta variant spreads faster in comparison to other covid strains.
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According to Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, scientists have sequenced delta's mutations but are still trying to figure out what they represent. “When the same mutations show up often and independently, we know they're important,” Rasmussen said.
Scientists have the finest understanding of mutations in the so-called spike protein, which protrudes from the virus's surface like a club and has been studied the most because of its devastating consequences, according to Rasmussen. The spike protein is used by the coronavirus to enter human cells, and alterations in the spike can assist the virus to escape antiviral defences.
The receptor-binding domain, a specific region of the protein that helps the virus to latch onto a receptor on the surface of human cells, is one of the most critical parts of the spike, according to Vaughn Cooper, a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Proteins connect with cells through receptors, which operate as sockets or docking stations. Once inside the cell, the virus can wreak havoc by hijacking the cell's genetic machinery and turning it into a virus-producing factory.
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Also, a group of scientists reported that those infected with the delta strain have more than 1,260 times the viral load (the concentration of viral particles in the body) than those infected with the original strain found in China. A greater viral load can have a variety of consequences, including more severe illness. Its primary contribution is to a virus's increased transmissibility.
Moreover, the delta variant has a four-day incubation period instead of six, making people contagious sooner. According to the Chinese study, samples of delta variant infections turn RT-PCR positive sooner than samples of non-delta infections.