The Delta variant is not only hyper-contagious. It also grows faster inside you

After months of data collection, scientists agree: the delta variant is the most contagious version of the coronavirus in the world. It spans 225% faster than the original version of the virus, and it is currently dominating the epidemic in the United States.

A new study, published online Wednesday, explains why. He finds that the variant grows faster in people’s airways and at much higher levels, researchers from the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000 times more copies of the virus in their airways than those infected with the original strain of the coronavirus, the study reported.

Also, once someone gets the delta variant, the person likely becomes infectious sooner. On average, it took around four days for the delta variant to reach detectable levels inside a person, compared to six days for the original variant of the coronavirus.

In the study, scientists analyzed COVID-19 patients involved in the first outbreak of the delta variant in mainland China, which occurred between May 21 and June 18 in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. . The researchers measured the levels of the virus in 62 people involved in this outbreak and compared them to the levels of 63 patients infected in 2020 with an early version of the virus.

Their results suggest that people who contract the delta variant likely spread the virus earlier in their infection.

And scientists stress the importance of immediately quarantining for 14 days after coming into contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, as recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Or better yet, get the full vaccine. Preliminary data shows that in some U.S. states, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths in recent months have been unvaccinated people, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky told the White House on Thursday.

“We know that the delta variant… is currently booming in the pockets of the country with low immunization rates,” Walensky said. “We also know that our licensed vaccines prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from the delta variant. “

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