Delta merges with TheOmilon strain to appear Zhang Wenhong said china is "not yet open"

On January 8, the Tianjin Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention completed the whole genome sequencing of the new coronavirus in 2 new local cases in Tianjin, and after analysis and comparison, and confirmed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2 indigenous cases of the new coronavirus belonged to the Aomi Kerong variant (BA.1 evolutionary branch) and belonged to the same transmission chain.

Tianjin's battle against "Omi Kerong" has added uncertainty to China's fight against the epidemic. Professor Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Disease Medicine and director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, said at an online meeting held on the morning of January 9: "The quarantine policy depends on the development of the epidemic, and whether China can gradually open up depends on the global epidemic situation. The premise of openness is safety, such as the widespread vaccination of vaccines and the listing of new drugs, and I think from a scientific and technological point of view, China does not have the basis for opening up. ”

Omicron will "bite"

In response to some views that the "Omikejong" variant is relatively mild and can be regarded as a "large flu", Zhang Wenhong refuted it. He warned at an offline meeting on Jan. 8: "For people who lack immunity, Omi kerong can 'bite'. ”

Zhang Wenhong believes that at present, the new crown enhancement vaccine can still provide effective protection against severe illness caused by the Aumechjong variant, and he encourages people to actively vaccinate.

Judging from the data published by the research team, a Sinopharm vaccine study published late last year showed that the three-dose inactivated vaccine was less effective at neutralizing the Omilkejunn variant than it was on the original strain of the new crown. Researchers such as Yuan Guoyong, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, have found that two doses of the Koxing vaccine cannot produce antibodies that neutralize "Omi Kerong".

In the near term, WHO is optimistic that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to end by the end of 2022. In this regard, Zhang Wenhong proposed two models to end the new crown epidemic. "One model is to reduce the spread of the virus through efficient vaccines and new drugs, quickly end the epidemic, and transition from a pandemic to a local epidemic; the other is to gradually transition through efficient vaccines, maintain intensive social and public health measures, and ensure adequate medical resources, and avoid a run on medical resources," he said. ”

Zhang Wenhong responded to the question of whether people need to continue to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the future. He said: "I think the evidence for the need for continuous COVID-19 vaccination is still insufficient, for example, in the United States, natural mild infections are becoming more and more common, and whether vaccination is needed in the future depends on whether the symptoms of the disease will be more severe." Zhang Wenhong believes that most vaccines do not need to be vaccinated every year, except for influenza vaccines.

At present, "Omi Kerong" is popular in the United States and Europe. Johns Hopkins data show that as of last Friday,000, the average daily reported new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 600,000, which is a 72% increase from the previous week and a new high since the pandemic; the number of new coronavirus infections in France on Friday and Saturday also exceeded 300,000 for two consecutive days.

But a growing body of research suggests that "Omikeron" may cause milder symptoms than other CORONAVIRUS variants. The latest data comes from the French Ministry of Public Health (SPF), which released a result of 338 confirmed cases of infection with the Aumicoren variant, showing that only 5 of the patients were hospitalized and 3 of them were not vaccinated; none of the cases were admitted to the intensive care unit.

According to a press release issued Friday by ap-HM, the French hospital system, 86 percent of COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit in Marseille were not vaccinated.

Be wary of coronavirus recombination

Just as cases of the "Omikejung" variant surged around the world, researchers from Cyprus made new discoveries. Leondios Kostrikis, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus, and his team have discovered a special strain of the new coronavirus that, in Delta's genome, has the genetic characteristics of Omicron.

The team unveiled the findings on Saturday and said it had found the strain that combined the characteristics of the two variants in 25 patients infected with the new crown, tentatively naming the newly discovered strain "Deltacron" (Deltacron).

The team has now sent the case sequence to the international database GISAID. The researchers said 11 of the 25 samples were from COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Costrickys' analysis shows that the "Delta Kerong" strain is more likely to be found in COVID-19 patients than in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and it is likely that this new strain has not been detected elsewhere.

This isn't the first time researchers have warned of the risk of recombination of the virus caused by Delta's merger with the Olmikron variant. Indian virus experts have previously warned of the risks of a new variant known as Delmicron, but have not provided scientific evidence.

Last month, vaccine maker Moderna warned that the simultaneous spread of Olmiqueron and Delta could lead to a person being infected with two strains at the same time, and the possibility that both strains could mutate into a "super variant" could be ruled out.

Dr Paul Burton, Moderna's chief medical officer, said: "Two strains in the same host are likely to exchange genes and trigger more dangerous mutations. ”

However, the newly discovered 25 strains of the delta gene and the Omikerong mutation do not mean that the two variants have a genetic recombination event.

A virus expert told the first financial reporter that the possibility of such a "restructuring event" is not ruled out, but this requires very special conditions and coincidence of events to occur, which are generally difficult to control or predict.

Based on historical experience, the chance of recombination of the coronavirus is relatively high. Gao Fu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has said that the coronavirus should be vigilant against the reorganization.

Gao Fu said: "Compared with the natural variation of the virus, the greater danger comes from the possible recombination of the virus. "He believes that viral recombination is more noteworthy than mutations in some viral variants." But the possible reorganization of the coronavirus is the real 'big witch', and the current mutation can only be regarded as a 'little witch'. Gao Fu said.

Zhang Wenhong also said: "If the highly contagious Omiljung virus strain recombines with other coronaviruses, such as MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) virus, the situation will be worse. ”

The researchers also stressed that with the current data, it is still impossible to judge whether the "Delta Kerong" virus strain will infect more people, nor can it be evaluated for its possible effects. In an interview with local television, Costrickys said that the pathogenicity and infectivity of the strain need to be monitored in the future. However, he believes that judging from the current popularity of Aumi Kerong, it will definitely surpass "Delta Kerong".