Tag: delta

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Pandemic Virus

Deltacron

Deltacron was identified in January 2022 by a lab in Cyprus and is a portmanteau of Delta and Omicron and contains genetic material from both Covid-19 variants making this new variant a recombinant one but some medical experts doubt Deltacron exists.

The new variant has an entry in Dictionary.com describing it as “the name given to a supposed combination of the Delta and Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus; however, many scientific experts have concluded that it does not exist. A number of virologists have said that the appearance of a combined strain was simply the result of contamination of the samples in which it was thought to have been detected. Deltacron is, in fact, not a variant, but a broad nickname describing variants that contain a mixture of mutations found in Delta and Omicron.”

An article titled “What Is Deltacron? A New Coronavirus Variant Or Lab Error?” reports that the lab responsible for discovering the new variant said “on 7 January [that the] team had discovered Deltacron in 25 patients [and the] variant appeared to be a mix of the delta and omicron variants” (Majumder).

Because there are so few cases the World Health Organization has not classified it as a variant of concern. Epidemiologist William Hanage of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said “It’s only a variant if it produces a large number of cases…if it’s not causing lots of cases, people don’t need to be concerned” (Ellis).

Social Media Trends as of May 20, 2022

Facebook #deltacron: 11,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #deltacron: 6,960 posts
TikTok #deltacron: 24.9 million views
YouTube #deltacron: 1,100 videos and 525 channels

Google Trends: deltacron appeared on January 8, 2022 and peaked during the second week of that month before fading into obscurity by the beginning of April 2022.

deltacron search term
Juan

Sources:

“Deltacron.” Dictionary.com. January 18, 2022. URL: https://www.dictionary.com/e/
tech-science/deltacron/.

Ellis, Ralph. “Scientists Identify New COVID Variant Called ‘Deltacron’” WebMD. March 11, 2022. URL: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220311/new-covid-variant-deltacron.

Guha Majumder, Bhaswati. “What Is Deltacron? A New Coronavirus Variant Or Lab Error?” Swarajyamag.com. January 10, 2022. URL: https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/what-is-deltacron-a-new-coronavirus-variant-or-lab-error.

Juan. “Lexicon images. “Researcher with blood sample of New Variant of the Covid-19 DELTACRON and generic data of covid-19 Coronavirus Mutations. Doctor in analysis lab holding sample of new strain of covid DELTACRON” image. Adobe.com. File no: 479256877.


Categories
Pandemic Virus

Covid wave

A Covid wave conjures up patterns of peaks and troughs where a new variant creates a surge of infections for a length of time followed by a decline in new cases. Different countries have their own Covid waves with spikes in new cases followed by an eventual leveling off of infections.

Professor Lisa Maragakis, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains why this happens: “Several factors have had an impact on whether new COVID-19 cases are increasing or declining in particular locations. These factors include the effectiveness of vaccines over time, human behavior, infection prevention policies, changes to the coronavirus itself, and the number of people who are vulnerable because they have not developed some immunity, whether from natural infection or through vaccination. For instance, a large spike in U.S. COVID-19 cases occurred over the winter months of 2020–21 when people traveled and gathered for the winter holidays. The arrival of FDA-authorized vaccines in December 2020 helped bring new infection levels back down in many areas through the spring of 2021. Another surge began in July 2021 as the contagious delta variant began to circulate and eventually become dominant. Waning immunity and relaxation of public policies and infection prevention measures also played a role.“

Is another Covid wave coming? Since restrictions were lifted across the United States and people didn’t have to wear masks anymore, the number of Covid 19 cases has increased. A recent article published on April 16, 2022 for Fortune.com said “The U.S. is in a stealth wave of stealth Omicron…It can’t be known for certain because the country doesn’t have the data it should have. That’s not for lack of technology or supply, but for lack of willpower. Americans largely don’t want to get tested for COVID right now. But it sure seems like another COVID wave, and Americans want to ignore it” (Prater).

Shutterstock: Chidori_B

Social Media Trends as of May 17, 2022

Facebook #covidwave: 1,300 people are posting about this
Instagram #covidwave: 2,792 posts
TikTok #covidwave: 715,000 views
YouTube #covidwave: 282 videos and 177 channels

Google Trends: covid wave first appeared during the week of March 22, 2020 though to be honest America was only just in the grip of the first wave. The level of interest of this search term dipped a bit before spiking again in the spring and summer of 2021 as different variants made their way over here, such as Delta and Omicron. The week of March 13, 2022 saw the “covid wave” search term reach peak popularity as the BA.2 variant became the dominant strain in the United States.

covid wave search term

Sources:

Chidori_B. “covid 19 second wave concept, healthcare concept.” Shutterstock.com. Standard License. Royalty-free stock vector ID: 1776123344.

Maragakis, Lisa. “Coronavirus Second Wave, Third Wave and Beyond: What Causes a COVID Surge.” John Hopkins School of Medicine. Hopkins Medicine.org. October 21, 2021. URL: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/first-and-second-waves-of-coronavirus.

Prater, Erin. “The COVID wave America doesn’t care about: ‘Everybody is sick of COVID’.” Fortune.com. April 16, 2022. URL: https://fortune.com/2022/04/16/next-covid-wave-probably-here-america-ignoring-everybody-sick-of-covid-delta-omicron-pi-coronavirus-fauci-johns-hopkins-ba1-ba2-variant-voc-voi-wild-type/.