The new “face” of Covid-19 is frightening: from Lombardy to Sardinia, while other regions are on the alert. Cases of the Delta variant (formerly Indiana) are sprouting patchy and worry about the speed with which they are replacing the Alpha variant (formerly English). So much so that experts, like the infectious disease specialist, say Massimo Galli, from the Sacco hospital in Milan: “This variant will supplant the English one”. Of the 81 cases detected so far in Lombardy, two were identified in April, 70 in May and 9 on June 14. For now, the percentage of the Delta variant on the total genotyping is still residual: 1.20% in May and so far 1.15% in June. Also in Sardinia the new Covid mutation has made its appearance: a member of the troupe of the Disney film “The Little Mermaid”, in production in the north of the island, is hospitalized at the Santissima Annunziata hospital in Sassari, in the infectious diseases department. Its conditions are stationary. Other components of the production of the Hollywood film tested positive at Covid and isolated in accommodation facilities in Trinità d’Agultu, one of the Sassarese locations touched by the shooting of the remake of the animated film of the same name.
Here’s why the Delta variant is the most infectious of all (for now)
by Giuseppe del Bello
The Delta variant, identified for the first time in India, is also known as variant VUI-21APR-01 or B.1.617 and has a number of mutations including E484Q, L452R and P681R whose simultaneous presence arouses some concern among the experts. In Italy it was sequenced, as well as in Milan and Sardinia, also in Veneto, on two residents of Alto Vicentino, and on a 91 year old in Emilia Romagna. But the first case was reported in Florence at the beginning of last March. It is an Indian father and daughter who have returned from their country of origin in recent days. The greatest fear is that this strain may be more contagious and that it presents a greater risk of reinfection. At the moment, however, specifies the Ministry of Health, there does not seem to be any evidence that this variant causes a more serious disease or that vaccines are less effective, in any case studies are underway that aim to understand more precisely what is the impact of mutations on the behavior of the virus, so that appropriate interventions can be implemented.
Covid, from Alpha to Delta, guide to the variants of the virus: what we know so far
by Simone Valesini
Professor Massimo Galli believes that the Delta variant is destined to prevail over the others. He explains: “The Delta variant was an expected event, we knew it would arrive. As happened, after all, for the English variant. And it is destined to replace it because it has already done so in India and Great Britain: it is in able to spread faster. But there is a positive aspect: we should not be afraid because it does not particularly escape the protection that the vaccine confers with respect to serious illness, hospitalization in intensive care and death. which does not respond to the vaccine, as happened in the case of Milan, but it is still minimal. I am talking about the most fragile, the elderly and the immunosuppressed. In the latter case, particular attention must be paid, monitoring their situations and verifying through a serum test the level of antibodies produced by your body against Covid-19 “.
Delta variant, British data confirm the efficacy of the second dose of the vaccine
Meanwhile, the Delta mutation has put Britain in reverse. The long-awaited Freedom day, the day when the British will finally be able to free themselves from the restrictions imposed with Covid, is postponed. In fact, the United Kingdom authorities, through Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have announced the postponement of the major relaxation measures from the lockdown regime introduced in England: it has been postponed by almost a month, from the date set in recent weeks, June 21, until to July 19. “It takes more time – the premier said at a press conference in Downing Street – to give the NHS (the national health service) a few more weeks to administer vaccines to those in need”. For Johnson, it is a duty to “release the accelerator” of the return to normal, because the spread of the Delta variant is worrying: cases are growing in England by about 64% per week and hospitalizations are increasing, including those in intensive care. And he admits: “Covid cannot simply be eliminated, we have to live with it”.
France in alarm
And even in France the alarm is spreading. The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, warned the country against an excess of optimism about the evolution of the pandemic, pointing out that between 2 and 4% of the swabs examined in France show the Delta variant, the equivalent of 50 -150 new cases every day. “You will say – said Véran – that it is still little, but it was the English situation a few weeks ago. England has decided to postpone the last stage of the reopenings for 4 weeks. The Delta variant has brought the epidemic back on an upward trajectory , and this despite the fact that that country has a higher vaccination coverage rate than ours and had dropped very low in terms of circulation of the virus “.
