Deltacron Cases In UK, Experts With Difference Of Opinion About This New Hybrid

The new COVID variant termed Deltacron has given rise to differences of opinions among global health experts as it has become a matter of concern from all of them.

Last week the health security agency of the United Kingdom informed that the new hybrid variant which is a combination of both Omicron and Delta has been found in test samples.

Delta variant of COVID had led to the deadly second wave in India and the third wave emerged as a result of Omicron spread in different countries.

By the end of December 2021, this Deltacron was discovered for the first time by a researcher who belongs to Cyrus named Leonidos Kostrikis, a professor at the University of Cyprus.

Kostrikis said that this COVID strain consists of Omicron like genetic signatures within the Delta genome

After his discovery of the disease, the scientist claimed that his team has identified a total number of 25 Deltacron cases. On 7 January this year, the samples of 25 Deltacron cases were sent to an International database used to track virus changes.

But the discovery by Kostrikis was rejected by the global health experts and leading publications regarding it as a lab error.

A research associate at Imperial College London's Barclay Laboratory, Thomas Peacock who came up with his opinion over the Deltacron findings on Twitter said that it seems to be quite clear contamination.

Kostrikis however stood by his findings asserting that Deltacron is a hybrid variant of COVID that has the ability to spread faster than both Omicron variants and Delta.

The infectious disease epidemiologist of WHO (World Health Organization) Maria Van Kerkhove in January 2022 shared a tweet writing 'Let's not use a word like Deltacron, Please.' She further added that these words imply combinations of different viruses which is not happening.

Now with the detection of the infection in the UK, it seems like slowly the government and health experts are registering the new covid variant of Deltacron but WHO has not yet mentioned it as a hybrid.

Also read: Australia's Covid cases continue to rise

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