Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

DELTA VARIANT SPREADS LIKE CHICKENPOX –CDC

Coronavirus strain more transmissible than Ebola, common cold, flu‚ smallpox

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus as being as transmissible as chickenpox and cautioned it could cause severe disease, the Washington Post said, citing an internal CDC document.

The variant was also more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines, but the agency said such incidents were very rare, the CDC report posted on the Washington Post website showed.

In its summary, the CDC report said Delta is highly contagious, likely more severe than other variants and breakthrough infections may be as transmissible as unvaccinated cases.

Still, the CDC’s figures show that the vaccines are highly effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death.

The findings are likely to stir debate about whether masks, social distancing and other measures may again be needed even in countries with broad vaccination campaigns and where lockdown restrictions have eased.

Masks needed

The CDC report said that universal mask wearing was still needed to reduce transmission in addition to vaccines.

The New York Times, which also reported on the document, said the agency’s turn around this week on masking guidelines for fully vaccinated Americans was based on the report.

Israel recently reinstated mask-wearing requirements indoors and requires travelers to quarantine upon arrival.

“The main thing that does change (because of Delta) is that

masks will still be used and that in countries where this requirement has been lifted, it will have to be reintroduced,” said Carlo Federico Perno, head of Microbiology and Immunology Diagnostics at Rome’s Bambino Gesù Hospital.

Immense viral load

New research showed the vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant carried tremendous amounts of the virus in the nose and throat, CDC director Rochelle Walensky told the Times.

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the SARSCoV-2 ancestral strain as well as the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, the report said. It said it was as transmissible as chickenpox, a highly contagious infection that causes itchy rashes.

But the variant is roughly as deadly as the ancestral strain, whereas SARS, Ebola and other diseases had far higher fatality rates, the report showed.

The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed” and improve the public’s understanding of breakthrough infections

as well as the big reduction in the risk of severe disease for vaccinated people, the document said.

Countries from Australia to Japan and the Philippines announced tighter COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, as they battle worsening coronavirus outbreaks, driven by the Delta variant.

Global concern

Detected in some 96 countries, the Delta variant, first identified in India, has become a global concern, prompting even countries with advanced vaccination drives such as the United States, Israel and Singapore to reimpose some restrictions.

But it is having a bigger impact on Asia where many countries are battling record cases now, as the region’s low vaccination rates have left hundreds of millions of people exposed to the highly transmissible variant.

“We know from the research that it (Delta) has a viral load 1,000 times higher than previous variants, that’s why we see more cases because it transmits more easily and faster,” Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Griffith University in Queensland, told Reuters.

He said Delta appears to cause more severe symptoms, especially breathing difficulties.

Already under a lockdown, Sydney is now facing its toughest measures yet, including mandatory testing in the worst affected suburbs, as the infection numbers held persistently high five weeks since restrictions began. From Monday, the army will help police in Australia’s biggest city check that people positive for the virus are isolating.

India cases rising

The Philippines announced a plan on Friday to put the Manila capital region, a sprawl of 16 cities and home to more than 13 million people, in lockdown for two weeks to contain the spread of Delta and to shield the country’s medical system.

India reported on Friday its highest number of daily cases in three weeks, the latest evidence of a worrying trend of rising cases that has forced one state to lock down amid fears of another wave of infections.

In Japan, the government expanded states of emergency to three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka, as COVID-19 cases spike in the capital and around the country.

The new emergency measures will be in effect from Aug. 2 to 31, said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

New daily COVID-19 cases in Japan came in at record-high 10,743 on Friday, public broadcaster NHK said, after Tokyo reported 3,300 new infection cases in the capital.

New studies show that fully vaccinated people who become infected carry as much virus as unvaccinated people do, suggesting they may be able to transmit the infection to others, CDC director Walensky earlier said.

FRONT PAGE

en-ph

2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://philippinedailyinquirerplus.pressreader.com/article/281762747296011

Philippine Daily Inquirer