A new type of virus may have been discovered in Cyprus

So far, Cypriot life sciences professor Leondios Kostrikis and colleagues have discovered 25 cases of the combination known as “crown delta.”

Magnus Jeslin, professor at the University of Gothenburg and chief physician in infectious diseases at Sahlgrenska Hospital, points out that there is currently little information about ‘crowns delta’.

– There is a lot that is not clear. If this is what’s called recombination, someone has both a delta and an omicron and it becomes a mixture of genetic material, or if it’s a spontaneously generated variant — that data doesn’t exist yet, says Gislin.

Researchers question the existence of the variant

Some researchers are also wondering if it was really a new variant, and they think it might be a lab error, that test tubes swallowed viral genetic material from the two variants.

– When I looked at the virus sequence from these 20+ cases, it likely appeared both in test tubes and in test tubes. There were some old deltas in the room, and since then the patient may have had omicrons. Or vice versa, says Anders Sönnerborg, professor of clinical virology at Karolinska Institutet, To Dagens Nyheter.

There is no evaluation from the World Health Organization

There is a lack of sufficient data to assess whether the variant will cause problems or how it will affect the spread of infection. The World Health Organization has not yet assessed whether ‘crown delta’ is a type of virus of particular interest. Now is the time to wait and see what happens.

– It is important to follow the development, but I don’t think you should be too anxious, says Magnus Gisslén and continues:

– It’s hard to believe that this would be some kind of supervirus. It should spread very easily and compete with omikron and at the same time have a high risk of serious illness, I think the probability is very small.

The only thing certain, the professor says, is that new variants of the coronavirus will continue to emerge.

When enough people have omicrons, which is a huge prevalence as it is now, and have gained immunity, other variables will take over, says Magnus Gisslén.