At a glance
- "Delmicron" was originally invented by Indian medical officials as a term for two strains, Delta and Olmiqueron, rather than a newly discovered mutant strain.
- Some Indian media have interpreted it as a strain that combines the characteristics of Delta and Olmikeron. However, at present, no "Delmicron" mutation strain in this sense has been found worldwide.
Event background
On December 29, some netizens said on social platforms that a new mutant strain called "Delmicron" has now appeared in Europe and the United States. The new strain is said to be a combination of two mutant strains, Delta and Olmikeron.
Where did this so-called "Delmicron" come from? Are Delta and Opmikeron really "stitching" with each other?
Mingcha
In simple terms, "Delmicron" is not a new type of mutant strain, but a collective name for two strains, Delta and Omicron, invented by the Indian media.
A public search found that a number of Indian media outlets had reported on "Delmicron".
On December 22, the Indian media outlet The Northern News published an article titled "'Delmicron', not just Omicron, behind surge in cases in UK, US),quoting Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra COVID-19 working group, as saying: "Delmicron – the twin peaks of Delta and Olmiqueron – has caused a small case 'tsunami' in Europe and the United States."
Dr Josh also said that currently, the main strain in India is the Delta derivative variant and the "descendants" of Delta. "In other parts of the world, The Omikeron is rapidly replacing the Delta, but [people] can't predict how the Delta derivative and the Omiqueron will behave."
On December 23, Times Now TV invited Dr. Ashok Seth, president of the Fortis Heart Institute, to interpret "Delmicron." The so-called "Delmicron is raging in Europe and the United States" refers to the surge in Delta cases and Opmi kerong cases in Europe and the United States.
However, in further dissemination, the name "Delmicron" was also given a different nature and meaning.
Health World, a subsidiary of the Economic Times, reported on December 27 that experts said that simultaneous infection with Delta and Omilon may lead to the formation of "Delmicron", and "Delmicron" will have the high transmission efficiency of Omiqueron and the severity of Delta.D.
The claim may point to the remarks made earlier this month by Dr. Paul Burton, Modena's chief medical officer. According to the Daily Mail, at a meeting of the Science and Technology Committee of the British Parliament, Burton warned that cross-infection of Delta and Opmi kerong could lead to the "exchange of genes" between the two strains, giving birth to a new super variant.
"Boss Modena says 'people may carry' two variants of COVID-19"
However, although it is theoretically possible to infect Delta and Omiljunn simultaneously, as of 30 December, no cases of simultaneous infection with both variants have been reported worldwide.
A paper published in Virus Research in April. The results showed that two different strains of COVID-19 (B.1.1.28 and VUI-NP13L) could be infected simultaneously.
In other words, at least for now, the "super variant" that Burton warned about, the "DelMicron" reported in the Indian media "Healthy World", has not yet become a reality.
On December 29, "Zhongshi News Network" quoted Luo Yijun, the medical response team of the Taiwan Epidemic Command Center, as saying that most of the patients in Omi Kerong were mild, such as cough, sore throat, etc., and Delta would be accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever. "Delmicron" is a term used to describe the systemic symptoms of infected people in Omikejong, India. Luo Yijun said, "The symptoms of infection will be different when the number of people is large, and there is no need to use the syndrome of 'Del Miquejong' to replace the original Omilkeron disease." ”
As of December 30, the World Health Organization had not responded to the claim that "Delmicron is raging in Europe and the United States."
In summary, "Delmicron" was originally invented by Indian medical officials as a general term for the delta and Olmiqueron strains, rather than a newly discovered mutant strain. In the process of dissemination, some Indian media have interpreted it as a strain that combines the characteristics of delta and Omikejong genes, but at least for now, this sense of the "Delmicron" mutant strain has not yet become a reality. Excessive publicity of "Delmicron" is inevitably suspected of sensationalism.
Further reading:
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