Two poisons in one! Delta Chron variant confirmed for the first time

According to the latest report from the National Health Commission, from 0:00 to 24:00 on March 13, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 1,437 new confirmed cases. Among them, 100 cases were imported from abroad, including 21 cases that were converted from asymptomatic infections to confirmed cases (8 cases in Zhejiang, 6 cases in Guangdong, 6 cases in Sichuan, and 1 case in Henan); 1,337 local cases -

There were 788 new cases of local asymptomatic infections.

Two poisons in one! The first confirmed variant of Deltacrón

Related cases reported in the United States and Europe

The American website Fun Science reported on March 11 that French scientists confirmed for the first time through genome sequencing that the "deltacron" variant of the new coronavirus, which has attracted much attention before, does exist. It combines mutations in the delta variant and the omecula variant of the new coronavirus. Currently, related cases have been reported in the United States and Europe.

Researchers at the Mediterranean Medical and Teaching Institute for Infectious Diseases in Marseille, France, published an article on the medical research paper preprint website medRxiv on March 8, saying that they confirmed the existence of this new variant through genome sequencing. Moreover, the variant has been detected in many regions of France.

In addition, data provided by the Global Influenza Sharing Database (GISAID) showed that cases related to "Delta Kron" have also been found in Denmark and the Netherlands. Helix, a genetic research company based in California, has found two cases in the United States. According to the British "Guardian" report, the UK has confirmed about 30 cases of "Delta Kron". Moreover, according to GISAID, this new variant may have been spreading among the population since January.

French researchers pointed out that the new hybrid variant "Delta Kron" was produced through recombination. The so-called recombination refers to the exchange of genetic material to produce new offspring when two different variants of a virus infect a patient at the same time. The paper published on medRxiv pointed out that the "backbone" of the "Delta Kron" variant comes from the Delta variant; while its spike protein - the protein that enables the virus to enter host cells - comes from the Omicron variant.

"We already know that when multiple coronavirus variants circulate, recombination events can occur in humans or animals," Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), wrote in a tweet on March 8. "Now we need to wait for experiments to characterize this new variant."

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on the coronavirus, said at a press conference that so far scientists have not found any change in the severity of the new variant compared with previous coronavirus variants, but a lot of scientific research is underway.

"Unfortunately, we do see new recombinants emerge because that's the way viruses are, they change over time," Kerkhove said. "This coronavirus is highly transmissible, it infects animals and has the potential to infect humans again."

Earlier, when a reporter from China News Service interviewed Lu Jianchun, a former senior engineer at the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the Academy of Military Sciences, he said that "Delta Kron" combines the two characteristics that are most unfavorable to humans:

One is that the location of the human respiratory tract it invades is different. For example, the previous viruses of Delta invaded deep into the lungs, but this time it mainly invades the upper respiratory tract above the bronchi. Therefore, its clinical symptoms are relatively mild, and some are even asymptomatic.

Another reason is that it is very easy to be infected. On the one hand, it is in the upper respiratory tract and can be more easily exhaled through coughing. On the other hand, it is not ruled out that it has the phenomenon of immune escape, and it can evade recognition by the human immune system.

Zhang Wenhong:

This wave of epidemic is currently in the early stages of exponential growth

At the same time, domestic epidemic prevention and control faces dual risks both at home and abroad. Epidemic prevention and control cannot be relaxed for a moment. We must continue to adhere to the prevention and control strategy of "preventing imported cases from outside and rebound from inside", strictly implement the responsibilities of all parties based on the "four early" principles, and strictly, scientifically and accurately control and reduce the risk of epidemic transmission.

In the early morning of March 14, Dr. Zhang Wenhong, Director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, published an article stating:

This wave of epidemic in China is currently in the early stages of exponential growth.

Our fight against the virus will continue for a long time, but the pace of prevention and control cannot be disrupted, and everyone’s confidence in prevention and control in the next stage must not be lost.

When it comes to this virus, eliminating fear is the first step we must take.

Data from Singapore and the UK both show that not getting vaccinated does not necessarily mean you will get sick, because the virus has become relatively weak. However, the vast majority of people who get sick are those who have not been vaccinated.

Because Omicron has become so mild, the coronavirus may now be even less deadly than influenza in countries that have achieved widespread vaccination and natural infection rates.

We should have clear ideas about future anti-epidemic measures, instead of arguing all day long about whether to achieve zero infection or coexistence.

In the near future, my country will continue to adopt the strategy of zero social contact and suppress the fifth wave of the Omicron epidemic, which is spreading very fast, to a completely controllable level. However, this does not mean that we will continue to adopt the strategy of city closure and full testing.

Anything that lasts must be gentle and sustainable. We must take advantage of the rare opportunity and window period brought by the social zero-COVID eradication that is sure to come, and prepare a more complete, intelligent and sustainable response strategy.

Screenshot of Dr. Zhang Wenhong's Weibo

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Comprehensive sources: National Health Commission official website, Science and Technology Daily, China News Service, Beijing Daily, CCTV News, etc.