Beta (B.1.351)
Initially called “South African” because it was identified in the African country in September 2020, after a period of silence it has returned to reappear with a diffusion that is currently in Italy of 1%.
Range (P.1)
Identified at the beginning of 2021 in Japan and then in Brazil and watched carefully for the three mutations, indicated with the abbreviations N501Y, E484K and K417T, involved in the effectiveness with which the virus binds to the Ace2 receptor of human cells. Already at the beginning of July 2021 the cases caused by this variant in Italy had decreased from 7.3% to 4.3% and the reduction has continued to the current 1.2%.
Delta (B.1.617.2)
The last of the four current “Variants of concern”, it is now dominant all over the world and in marked growth from North America to Europe to Asia and Oceania. Identified for the first time in India, it has spread rapidly in a hundred countries thanks to the great efficiency with which it is transmitted, estimated between 50% and 60% higher than the Alpha variant which has ended up replacing the role of dominant mutation. . In Italy Delta is currently responsible for 91% of cases. In the rest of the world, the countries where it has the greatest prevalence are Canada, with 100% of cases, followed by the United Kingdom (99.8%) and the United States (95%).
Eta (B.1.525)
It is the first of the four “Variants of interest” according to the classification updated by the WHO: first identified in Nigeria in December. It has now dropped from 1.5% to 0.1% of the sequences deposited by Italy.
Iota (B.1.526)
Identified in the United States (more precisely in New York), in Italy it has reduced until it disappears: from 1.5% to 0.1% of the sequences deposited.