Delta + Omexon combined has infected 25 people

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

The new strain, named "Deltacronoun", has infected 25 people

According to the Israeli "Jerusalem Post" quoted by Cyprus media reports on the 9th, researchers at the University of Cyprus are suspected of finding a recombinant new crown strain of Delta and Omicron in the local area, which is more genetically closer to the Delta strain, but has a large number of unique variants of the Olmikron strain. For this reason, the strain was named "Deltacron" by the researchers.

A team led by ReyondyWorth Cos regis, director of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology at the University of Cyprus, has been tracking the mutation of the new coronavirus in the country, and after sequencing 1377 samples, the team found that 25 people were infected with the new strain, whose genetic sequence was close to that of the Delta strain, but had a unique variant of 10 Omikeron strains. At the same time, as many as 14 of the 25 infected people were hospitalized.

Cos Reggies said: "There are currently co-infections with the Ami kerong and Delta strains, and we have found a variant of the recombination of the two. "The analysis shows that this variant is more common in inpatients than in hospitalized patients." The team has uploaded the strain genome to the GISAID international database and will continue to see if the variant is more pathogenic or contagious, or whether it becomes endemic.

However, the discovery of the strain has raised some controversy in addition to widespread concern. Thomas Peacock, a postdoctoral researcher in infectious diseases at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, said in a "Tweet" that there are some indications that the so-called "DeltaKron" may be the result of contaminated gene sequencing.

Studies have shown that recombination is very common in coronaviruses and has played an important role in the evolution of the coronavirus. In July 2020, researchers at Duke University, Los Alamos National Laboratory and other institutions in the United States published an article in the journal Nature that the new crown virus is likely to gain the ability to infect the human body through recombination; in August 2021, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States published a preprint paper saying that recombination has greatly accelerated the emergence of new variants of the new coronavirus.

In conclusion, it is important to monitor the genome of the new crown virus for evidence of recombination, both to gain insight into the virus and to provide early warning when the recombination of "super strains" emerges.

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Compared with natural variation, viral recombination is more dangerous

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: "There is a good chance that two strains will exchange genes in the same host 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 reporters that the possibility of such "recombinant events" cannot be ruled out, but this requires very special conditions and coincidence of events, 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." The possible reorganization of the coronavirus is the real 'big witch', and the current mutation can only be regarded as a 'small 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".

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