The most dangerous variants of COVID-19. How many are there?

A new variant of the coronavirus, dubbed IHU, was detected in France in December. It has not yet been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as worthy of attention, let alone a “worrying option”. There are five of the latter according to the WHO classification.

1. The coronavirus keeps mutating, and as a result, many variants are created. Most of them die, but some of them can dominate their environment
2. In the WHO classification, five SARS-CoV-2 variants fall under the VOC (Variants of Concern) category – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omikron
3. The two lower categories are Variants of Interest (VOI – worth of interest) and Variants Under Monitoring (VUM – variants under observation)
4. There are five more variants on them, but the IHU is not among them
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Variants of Concern (VOC)

According to the World Health Organization, this category includes variants that have one or more of the following changes “at the level of global public health significance”:

1. increased transmission rate or a deleterious change in epidemiology
2. increased virulence (ability to penetrate, multiply and damage tissues) or change in the clinical presentation of the disease
3. reduced effectiveness of public health measures or available diagnostics, vaccines or therapeutics.

Alpha variant (British)

Variant Alfa (B.1.1.7) was first identified in September 2020 in London and Kent. It entered the highest category in December 2020 and still remains there, although in the opinion of ECDC it is no longer considered the most dangerous. This variant has over 20 mutations, of which the key are N50Y, D614G, P681H. The former is responsible for increased infectivity, according to various estimates it is 50-70% higher. than in the case of the base variant.

In early 2021, it was the most widespread variant of COVID-19 in the world, triggering the third wave of the pandemic.

The main symptoms of infection with the British variant of COVID-19 are primarily cough, high fever, muscle and throat pain, and chronic fatigue. A much smaller number of people, compared to the classic variant, experienced a loss of smell and taste.

The rest of the text is below the video.

Beta variant (South African)

Beta variant (South African), marked with the symbol B.1.351 or 501.V2, first appeared in May or September 2020 in South Africa. In Poland, the first case was discovered in February 2021. It was added to the VOC list in December 2020.

1. A new variant of the coronavirus. It may be more infectious and immune to vaccines

Like Alpha, it contains a mutation N50Yand also particularly dangerous E484K and K417N, P71L, D614G i A701V. E484K it has been identified by scientists as an escape mutation, that is, one that “escapes the action of the immune system”. The Beta was also found to be more transmissive and cause heavier mileage than the base variant.

He has appeared in over 117 countries.

Gamma variant (Brazilian)

Gamma variant (Brazilian), marked with the symbol P.1, was first detected in Brazil in November 2020, entered the list of the “most dangerous” in January 2021. It has been sequenced in over 90 countries around the world, including Poland. It was first detected in May 2021, there were three cases in Silesia.

The Brazilian strain contains several mutations, including – like Alpha and Beta – a mutation N50Y, and E484K present in the Beta variant. In the WHO assessment, it meets all three conditions to be considered dangerous – greater transmissivity, greater immunity to vaccines and causing a more severe course of the disease, compared to the base variant of the coronavirus.

Delta variant (Indian)

Delta variant, marked with the symbol B.1.617.2, was first detected in India at the end of 2020, the WHO received attention in April 2021, and was added to the VOC list a month later. In Poland, he was first identified on April 26.

His most important mutations are E484Q, L452R, T478K i P681R, the first of them – “Escape” – is also available in the Beta and Gamma variants. It meets all three factors to be considered particularly serious regarding infectivity, vaccine immunity and the more severe course of the disease.

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So far, it has appeared in 158 countries around the world. It triggered the fourth wave of the pandemic, which began in the western part of Europe in the summer of 2021, and in Poland after the summer holidays. In many countries it is still dominant, although it is starting to be replaced by the newest of the dangerous variants – Omikron. Delta in Poland is currently responsible for 97,5 percent. cases.

What are the symptoms of Delta? – The first symptom of Delta infection is a headache, then a sore throat, often with a runny nose and high temperature, but there are no disorders of the smell or taste, said Dariusz Maciejewski, national consultant in the field of intensive care and head of the Hospital’s Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department. Provincial in Bielsko-Biała.

As the disease progresses, gastric ailments appear: nausea, abdominal pain, lack of appetite, muscle and joint pain may occur. In the case of the Delta mutation, hearing disorders, sneezing and pseudoanginic symptoms are served more often than in the case of the earlier variants.

Variant of Omikron

Omicron, marked with the symbol B.1.1.529, is the newest of the most dangerous variants. It was first detected in early November 2021 in South Africa and Botswana. WHO reacted quickly and after a dozen or so days entered it on the list, first variants under monitoring (VUM), and two days later on the VOC list.

1. Omikron variant – everything we know about it

The Omikron variant has as many as 50 mutations, including 32 mutations in the spike protein itself. Many of these mutations can be found in earlier “worrisome variants” such as Delta, Alpha and Gamma. This includes N50Y, K417N, T478K. There were concerns that such a large number of mutations could cause three things: the virus would be more transmissive, more resistant to vaccines, and it would make the disease more severe. After time, it turned out that only the first two conditions were met, the symptoms were much milder than in the case of Delta.

Omicron recently caused another wave of pandemic, especially in Western Europe and the United States, causing a very high number of infections, amounting to hundreds of thousands a day (420 infections in the US on January 3, 232 in France on December 31). So far, 74 infections with Omikron have been reported in Poland.

The new variant does not have specific symptoms, they are mostly similar to the previous ones, and the mild course of the infection makes it easy to confuse them with a common cold. People infected with Omikron most often report symptoms such as runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing and sore throat. There are also reports of vomiting, loss of appetite, night sweats, and skin changes.

Also read:

1. Why do young people die? The doctor explains the internet campaign # Nagle21
2. How long do vaccines protect against COVID-19? A new study checks several connections
3. Two new symptoms of Omicron. More people report them to doctors
4. These are the first symptoms of Omikron infection [LIST]
5. Who is the most resistant to the Omikron variant?

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