{"id":29270,"date":"2021-07-27T15:08:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T15:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/?p=29270"},"modified":"2021-08-22T15:42:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:42:03","slug":"the-evolution-of-the-sars-cov-19-virus-alpha-delta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2021\/07\/27\/29270\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution Of The SARS-Cov-19 Virus: Alpha Delta (+)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The number of cases of coronavirus infection in Armenia <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/CSSEGISandData\/COVID-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">has been increasing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> since July. On the 12th and 18th of the same month, they amounted to 3.4 million worldwide, an increase of 12% compared to the previous week, and new variants of the virus continue to appear in different countries, one more dangerous, the other less dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In recent months, a new variant of the virus, Delta Plus, has emerged, and scientists are trying to figure out whether it is more dangerous than its already well-known friend Delta, which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/07\/02\/coronavirus-latest-updates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">has been the cause<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for thousands of deaths in India and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/science\/article\/the-delta-variant-is-serious-heres-why-its-on-the-rise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is becoming<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the increasingly prevalent variant around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Acting Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azatutyun.am\/a\/31377633.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">told<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> reporters on July 26 that there is currently no sequenced specimen of the Delta strain in Armenia, but that it is circulating because we have an open border with both Russia and Georgia, where that strain is found. The Acting Minister also mentioned the possibility of a launch of the fourth wave of Covid-19 in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This material summarizing the evolution of SARS-Covid-19 will help to avoid confusion and differentiation of modifications from one another, completing the chronological sequence of their occurrence.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is a strain?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Strain = variant = modification<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29100 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1597\" height=\"778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x.png 1597w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x-300x146.png 300w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x-1024x499.png 1024w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x-768x374.png 768w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-2@2x-1536x748.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1597px) 100vw, 1597px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All viruses change over time, mutating, including SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the spread of the Covid-19 disease. Most of the changes have little or no effect on the properties of the virus and may even weaken it, but they are not ruled out and can lead to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">An increase in the likelihood of viral infection<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The severity of the associated disease<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A decreased efficacy of vaccines and drugs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The violations of diagnostic tools or other social and public health norms.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29102 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2228\" height=\"1039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x.png 2228w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x-300x140.png 300w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x-1024x478.png 1024w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x-768x358.png 768w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x-1536x716.png 1536w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Asset-1@2x-2048x955.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2228px) 100vw, 2228px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why do viruses mutate?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/whats-the-difference-between-mutations-variants-and-strains-a-guide-to-covid-terminology-154825\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of mutation occurs during the multiplication of the virus, when, using the mechanisms of its new host cells, the virus is duplicated and copied. The mistakes made during that copy are the mutations from which new variants of the virus are formed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/coronavirus\/article252903578.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> David Wall, professor of infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina Medical School, viruses are introduced in order to &#8220;live longer.&#8221; The human immune system creates a lot of barriers for viruses to prevent them from penetrating our body. According to Wall, viruses are modified to resist the human immune system rather than to &#8220;beat&#8221; drugs and vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Classifications<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/en\/activities\/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The World Health Organization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (WHO) has been monitoring and evaluating the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since January 2020 with its partner institutions, researchers and professionals. The emergence of new and more dangerous variants of the virus in late 2020 prompted them to be classified into the following groups:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Variants of Interest (VOIs)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Genetically modified variants of SARS-CoV-2 that have or are predicted to have changes in traits such as infectivity, disease severity, immune bypass, diagnosis and treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Variants of Concern (VOCs)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They are endowed with interesting features, are relatively more dangerous and contagious, are more difficult to diagnose, treat, and prevent with vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">* There are also options for Strong Consequences, but to date, SARS-CoV-2 has not achieved this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29110 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2090\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-scaled.jpg 2090w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-836x1024.jpg 836w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-768x941.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-1254x1536.jpg 1254w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/coronavirus-lineages-timeline-1-1672x2048.jpg 1672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2090px) 100vw, 2090px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And where is Delta Plus?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Delta Plus is a modified variant of the Delta strain with the K417N mutation. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/outbreak.info\/situation-reports?pango=AY.2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It appeared<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the world databases in the middle of March of this year, and already on April 26 the first cases of infection with it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/993879\/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">were registered<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in England. Although this strain is not very common, the Indian Ministry of Health <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/content.pib.iostechtools.com\/1729467\/web.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">has classified it<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as a Concern Option (VOC), citing its high infectivity, stickiness and potential for antibody resistance. However, it is not yet clear whether Delta Plus reaches the level of the Concerned variant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;India has called it a matter of concern, not out of precision,&#8221; said Ravindra Gupta, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Cambridge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A total of 200 cases of the Delta Plus strain infection <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/06\/25\/health\/delta-plus-variant-explainer-intl-hnk-scn\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">have been reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 11 countries, one of which (India) ended in death.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why Alpha, Beta \u2024\u2024\u2024?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts invited by the WHO advised naming the strains according to the letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc. According to them, it is easier to remember and present what variant of the virus it is to the public.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How is each new strain different from the other?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scientists are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/coronavirus\/article252903578.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">paying close attention<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to changes in the Peplomers of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Peplomers are the prickly outer layer of virus RNA that attach to the receptors on human cells.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">R0 &#8211; Infection<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Virus infectivity is measured by R0, which is the virus replication index. It <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/web.stanford.edu\/~jhj1\/teachingdocs\/Jones-on-R0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">shows<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> how many people a virus carrier can infect. When we say that the R0 of the Covid-19 Alpha variant is equal to 2-4, it means that a person infected with this strain can infect 2-4 people who do not follow the anti-epidemic rules. The higher the R0, the more contagious the virus is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29106 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-300x288.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-1024x982.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-768x737.jpg 768w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-1536x1473.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/media.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/covid-variants-2048x1964.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do current vaccines protect against new variants?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Existing vaccines are effective against Delta, but only after taking the full dose. According to a study by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/vaccines-highly-effective-against-b-1-617-2-variant-after-2-doses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Public Health England<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the first dose of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines protects against the disease caused by the Delta variant by 33%. After two doses, AstraZeneca alone is 60% effective and Pfizer is 88% effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For safety reasons, the WHO <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/m\/item\/covid-19-virtual-press-conference-transcript---25-june-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">still advises<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> fully vaccinated people to wear masks, otherwise they may become part of the spread of the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will the new strains form endlessly and will it be harder and harder to fight them each time?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;The fact that in 18 months the virus has mutated into two strains (Alpha and Delta) that are 50% more contagious than each other is an incredible change,&#8221; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health-57431420\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Aris Katzurakis, of Oxford University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He thinks that it is impossible to set numbers and predict how much it will increase, but he assumes that the infectivity will continue to increase in the next few years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;It does not mean that we will consume the Greek alphabet and reach omega, which will become an invincible monster. It is still very difficult to predict what is the best strategy against the coronavirus,&#8221; said Katzourakis.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Options in Armenia and the region<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Information from the WHO regarding a fourth wave of the epidemic and the spread of the Delta variant in the region became an occasion for the RA Ministry of Health to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moh.am\/#1\/4123\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">impose<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> restrictions. According to the Ministry of Health, in neighboring Georgia and Russia (accounting for 88.5% of studies), this strain is widespread, which is characterized by an unprecedented rapid spread and a more severe course of the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Ministry of Health then issued two awareness messages, the first being a Reuters <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moh.am\/?fbclid=IwAR0EyEFB9hbEYYu9UwJViNdHTFV2BoGvbqiUpgatJ68yzZu-spxWxcG1pKM#1\/4130\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">report on<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> how a number of countries, due to the spread of the Delta variant, were forced to adopt making vaccinations mandatory for health care workers and people at risk. The second was the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ncdc.am\/%D5%AB%D5%B6%D5%B9-%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A5%D5%B6%D6%84-covid-19-%D5%AB-%D5%A4%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%BF%D5%A1-%D5%B7%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%AB-%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%BD%D5%AB%D5%B6\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">material<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> summarizing the Delta strain of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the RA Ministry of Health and summarizing the rules for avoiding infection.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So what?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is difficult to make an assessment and make predictions about how Covid-19 will develop and how much and how many strains will be formed. Perhaps the most reassuring in this anti-epidemic and information boom is the scientists&#8217; assessment that for the viruses to spread more easily they need to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health-57431420\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">weaken<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><b>Christian Ginosyan<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of cases of coronavirus infection in Armenia has been increasing since July. On the 12th and 18th of the same month, they amounted to 3.4 million worldwide, an increase of 12% compared to the previous week, and new variants of the virus continue to appear in different countries, one more dangerous, the other<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2021\/07\/27\/29270\/\"> Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-verified","author_posts-christian-ginosyan-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29271,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29270\/revisions\/29271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}