What is the Delta Variant

 

The pandemic is still a clear and present danger to everyone especially to children after the Corona virus has evolved to a Delta variant. The Delta variant is known to be more contagious than the previous variants and affecting unvaccinated people more.  Lockdowns are still being enforced hoping that the spread of the virus will delay. 

What is the Delta Variant

According to an article from UC Davis Health, it is a newer strain of COVID-19 is causing concern as cases are rising worldwide. The Delta variant, which originated in India, began spreading more rapidly and making news around the middle of June. Now, health experts are warning of another surger of COVID-19. 

So what do we know about this Delta variant? So far, here's what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has say: 

1. Aside from being highly contagious than the previous variants, some data suggest that the Delta variant cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated persons. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients infected with Alpha or the original virus strains.
   
   
2. Unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern: Although breakthrough infections happen much less often than infections in unvaccinated people, individuals infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit it to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit. However, the greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to contract, and therefore transmit the virus.
   
   
3. Fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to be infectious for a shorter period: Previous variants typically produced less virus in the body of infected fully vaccinated people (breakthrough infections) than in unvaccinated people. In contrast, the Delta variant seems to produce the same high amount of virus in both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like other variants, the amount of virus produced by Delta breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people also goes down faster than infections in unvaccinated people. This means fully vaccinated people are likely infectious for less time than unvaccinated people.

Hospitals are starting to fill up again due to COVID-19 patients especially the pediatric department. Doctors and nurses wearing isolation gowns work non-stop and are doing their very best to help their patients. But we can actually feel that they're getting tired already. Most of them already got infected with the virus, but once they recover they go back to their shifts once again. 

We've lost so many people in the process, but there are still people who continue to fight. Let's be responsible and practice social distancing, wear our masks, wash our hands, and stay indoors as much as possible. Get vaccinated once it's available in your area. Ultimately, let's pray that this pandemic will end soon.