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The lambda variant is spreading in South America. How well does the Corona vaccination actually protect against the virus variant?
The Delta variant is spreading in Austria and is highly contagious, which is why only a complete vaccination offers sufficient protection. In laboratory tests, the delta variant seemed to partially escape antibodies of first vaccinated and unvaccinated recovered persons.
Researchers agree: the coronavirus will mutate even further. But Ralf Bartenschlager, president of the German Society for Virology, believes the number of variants will remain “manageable.”
However, U.S. immunologist Anthony Fauci warns of the development of a new, even more dangerous coronavirus variant if the spread of the highly contagious delta variant is not contained.
AGES was commissioned by the Ministry of Health in the spring to introduce a surveillance system for emerging and existing Corona mutations. The listing can be found here. It shows exactly: The predominant variant is Delta. But what about the lambda variant that occurs in South America? In any case, it does not appear on the AGES list.
Is the lambda variant a threat?
The lambda variant of the coronavirus was first detected in Peru, albeit a year ago. However, the WHO pointed out that the virus mutation is currently not particularly widespread. As reported by “ORF”, lambda itself is not particularly threatening for the country of Peru and is being displaced by the gamma variant.
However, a current study by Japanese researchers is causing concern for many: according to the paper, the lambda variant is more resistant to antibodies, can evade the immune system particularly well and is also much more contagious. However, the scientific paper is a preprint. This means that the study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
As Carsten Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, this study is over-interpreted. Lambda is not more contagious than the delta variant, he said.
Does the Corona vaccination protect sufficiently against lambda?
Even if the lambda variant should spread, the protection of the Corona vaccination against severe courses would remain, Christine Dahlke of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf explained, as reported by the “ORF”.
The behavior of the antibodies to the virus variants tested in the laboratory could only be reproduced to a limited extent. In any case, the WHO classifies lambda as a variant to be observed, but not a cause for concern.
- source: k.at/picture:mdr.de
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