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The Indian mutant is up to 40 percent more contagious than the common Corona variant, but can be well controlled with full immunization. The mutant makes vaccination all the more important.
Vorarlberger infected after trip to Vienna
According to the British government, the so-called delta variant (B.1.617.2) of the coronavirus is 40 percent more infectious than the original form of the Covid 19 pathogen. In the U.K., the variant, which was first detected in India, is already considered prevalent and can lead to more severe covid 19 disease, according to the health authority. It therefore provides a “weighty argument for vaccination,” virologist Andreas Bergthaler wrote on Twitter.
As the scientist from the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) further explained, the mutation spread rapidly in clusters in the United Kingdom starting in late March, replacing the former dominant variant B.1.1.7, formerly called the British and now called the alpha mutation. In Austria, it is found only sporadically in less than one percent of new infections, according to Bergthaler, and it is not yet detected in wastewater. According to the AGES variant report, individual cases of the mutation do occur; the most recent data is for the last week of May, when there were three suspected cases in Vienna.
Full immunization also effective against Indian variant
Most recently, in an APA interview, complexity researcher Stefan Thurner called for a containment strategy in autumn. Because even with a vaccination coverage rate of around 50 percent, problems could still arise in connection with the delta variant B.1.617.2. It can be assumed that the “British variant” (B.1.1.7 or “alpha” according to the new WHO name), which has been dominant in this country for some time, is about 50 percent more infectious than the “wild type”. If it is now assumed that the variant B.1.617.2, which was initially found in India, is transmitted another 40 to 50 percent more easily and spreads from Great Britain to continental Europe in the coming months, then there could be further handsome outbreaks in this country in the fall, Thurner warned.
In a “realistic social network,” if you have a 50 percent immunity rate, you can still theoretically reach an infection incidence that includes 40 percent of the population because not every person has the same number of social contacts. “It can still affect almost half the population even though the other half is vaccinated. You have to keep that in mind. That’s why it’s ‘pay attention,'” Thurner said. Even if 10 percent of the population is infected in autumn, that’s still “very, very much.” But the likelihood that this will burst intensive care bed capacities is lower overall, he said. The federal and state governments must now continue to do everything they can to motivate people to get vaccinated.
— sources: vienna.at/APA/picture: pixabay.com
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