a strain of covid-19 that adds delta And omicron Found in Cyprus, according to Leondios KostrikisProfessor of Biological Sciences at the University Cyprus and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology.
“Currently Omicron and Delta are co-infections and we found this strain that is a combination of these two,” Kostrikis said in an interview Friday. He said the discovery was named “Deltakron” because of the identification of omicron-like genetic signatures within the delta genome. Kostrikis and his team have identified 25 such cases and statistical analysis shows that the relative frequency of combined infections is higher in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 than in non-hospitalized patients.
The sequences of 25 “DeltaCron” cases were sent to GISAID, the international database that tracks changes in the virus, on January 7. “We will see in the future whether this strain is more pathogenic or more infectious or if it will prevail over Delta and Omicron,” he said.
Other scientists have speculated that Kostriakis’ findings are the result of laboratory contamination. But kostrikis, in an emailed statement, they said that the cases they identified “indicate an evolutionary pressure for an ancestral strain to acquire these mutations and are not the result of a single recombination event. ” “DeltaCron infection is higher in patients hospitalized for COVID than in non-hospitalized patients, to rule out the hypothesis of contamination,” he said.
In addition, samples were processed in multiple sequencing procedures in more than one country. and at least one sequence from Israel deposited in the global database displays genetic characteristics deltacron, They said. Health Minister Michael Hadjipantela said the new version was not a concern, and more details would be out this week. bloomberg
“Currently Omicron and Delta are co-infections and we found this strain that is a combination of these two,” Kostrikis said in an interview Friday. He said the discovery was named “Deltakron” because of the identification of omicron-like genetic signatures within the delta genome. Kostrikis and his team have identified 25 such cases and statistical analysis shows that the relative frequency of combined infections is higher in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 than in non-hospitalized patients.
The sequences of 25 “DeltaCron” cases were sent to GISAID, the international database that tracks changes in the virus, on January 7. “We will see in the future whether this strain is more pathogenic or more infectious or if it will prevail over Delta and Omicron,” he said.
Other scientists have speculated that Kostriakis’ findings are the result of laboratory contamination. But kostrikis, in an emailed statement, they said that the cases they identified “indicate an evolutionary pressure for an ancestral strain to acquire these mutations and are not the result of a single recombination event. ” “DeltaCron infection is higher in patients hospitalized for COVID than in non-hospitalized patients, to rule out the hypothesis of contamination,” he said.
In addition, samples were processed in multiple sequencing procedures in more than one country. and at least one sequence from Israel deposited in the global database displays genetic characteristics deltacron, They said. Health Minister Michael Hadjipantela said the new version was not a concern, and more details would be out this week. bloomberg
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