Deltacron: 5 things to know about the newest coronavirus variant

The World Health Organization has confirmed the emergence of a new variant, dubbed deltamicron or deltacron — a combination of delta and omicron.

1. Three COVID-19 infections in southern France were identified with a delta 21J/AY.4-omicron 21K/BA.1 recombinant, or deltamicron, according to a preprint published March 8 in MedRxiv. The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, found that the hybrid genome has signature mutations of the two lineages. It's similar to cases reported for 15 other patients sampled since January 2022 in Europe. The mutation is misidentified with current PCR variant screening, so researchers designed and implemented a new test to diagnose the variant.

2. The new coronavirus variant has been detected in France, the Netherlands and Denmark, according to WHO officials. It's also been found in the U.S., according to a new report soon to be published by MedRxiv, as viewed by USA Today.

3. The U.S. study findings come from San Mateo, Calif.-headquartered lab Helix, which works with the CDC. The lab sequenced 29,719 coronavirus samples collected nationwide from Nov. 22 to Feb. 13, according to the findings cited by USA Today. Researchers found two infections involving different versions of deltacron, resulting from the combination of delta and omicron genetic material. Twenty other infections had both the delta and omicron variants, with one case having delta, omicron and deltacron.

4. "We have not seen any change in the epidemiology with this recombinant," WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, said of deltacron during a March 9 media briefing. "We haven't seen any change in severity. But there are many studies that are underway."

5. Recent findings from the Pasteur Institute in France also provide evidence of a delta and omicron recombinant. In response to the findings, Dr. Van Kerkhove urged individuals to revisit a Feb. 22 WHO briefing where officials discussed the possibility of coronavirus recombinants.

"This is to be expected, especially w intense circulation of omicron & delta," she tweeted March 8.

the Minister known as “Health Hazzard” & FakeNewsMSM give the impression BA2 is running rampant in Australia...until you get to the ***FINAL LINE in the piece. just more shilling for the vax:

10 March: Yahoo: Covid cases tipped to DOUBLE as new strain emerges: ‘CONCERNING’
by Emily Lefroy
Health Minister Brad Hazzard told a NSW Budget estimates hearing on Thursday that the Omicron variant — currently the dominant strain in NSW — will be overtaken by the BA.2 variant with case numbers tipped to double.
The prediction comes as Covid cases in NSW jump to 16,888 on Thursday, an increase of more than 3000 from the day before...

Mr Hazzard urged people to get their booster shots, with only 56.3 per cent of the eligible population having received three vaccines.
“While the community may have gone to sleep on the virus, the virus has not gone to sleep on the community,” he said.
“The virus can still wreak havoc if we don’t go out there and go and get our boosters fast.”...

***The Australian Department of Health confirmed “a very low number” of cases of the new subvariant in Australia in late January...
https://au.news.yahoo.com/covid-cases-tipped-to-double-as-new-strain-emerges-052256724.html

wait, there’s more...

11 March: Daily Mail: Fears drug-resistant Covid is spreading in Australia as a medicine used to treat the disease causes a mutant strain
New research finds Aussies could be developing a drug-resistant form of Covid
Popular Covid treatment drug Sotrovimab could be causing virus mutation
Experts fear drug-resistant strain could spread to others if it reaches community
Findings have prompted calls for surveillance to better manage virus outbreaks
By MIRIAH DAVIS
Sydney University researcher Dr Rebecca Rockett studied 100 Covid patients in health care facilities across Western Sydney in New South Wales during the Delta outbreak between August and November.
The research found the virus mutated within six to 13 days in four of the patients who received the drug, and the treatment to contain the infection became ineffective.
Samples of the mutated version taken from the patients also indicated it had the potential to spread to others after it was able to be grown in a laboratory dish...
GSK, the maker of Sotrovimab, said resistance is also seen in studies for other Covid-19 treatments, and relates to how the immune system interacts with the virus...

The new research comes as a more transmissible variant of the Omicron strain emerges in Australia.
There has been an increase in Omicron’s BA2 sub-variant that preliminarily data from the University of NSW suggests is more transmissible.
Acting Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale said the technical term for the Omicron BA2 sub-variant is a ‘sublineage’, and the dominant form of that in NSW had been BA1.
‘What we are seeing ... is a trend to an increasing rise in the BA2 sublineage.
‘Experience has shown us overseas that BA2 can quite quickly overtake BA1 to become the dominant sublineage.’...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10596489/Fears-drug-resistant-Covid-spreading-Australia.html

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