World’s most infectious Covid-19 strain makes its way to Australia

새로운 코로나 19 strain has hit Australian shores — and some scientists fear it is more infectious than the Delta variant.

The Lambda strain has caught the attention of the 세계보건기구. It has been spotted in at least 30 countries already, including Britain.

Thought to originate in Peru, the lethal strain has accounted for almost 81 per cent of the country’s cases since April.

Doctors in the South American nation believe it is more transmissible than any other variants, based on how quickly it has spread over the past four months.

But coronavirus-tracking researchers have yet to uncover proof the virus is actually any more contagious than existing strains, including Delta or ‘Delta Plus’.

Others also insist there is no evidence to suggest it is deadlier, despite some doctors linking its spread to Peru having the world’s worst Covid mortality rate.

The Lambda variant was detected in a traveller undergoing hotel quarantine in 뉴 사우스 웨일즈 4 월, according to the national genomics database AusTrakka.

Medical personnel remove the corpse of a Covid-19 victim from Honorio Delgado Hospital in Arequipa, Peru where the Lambda variant accounts for almost 81 per cent of the country’s cases since April

The strain was marked as a ‘variant of interest’ by the World Health Organisation on June 14 due to its high transmissibility (사진, a woman getting the Pfizer vaccine in Sydney)

The Lambda variant was first was detected in a traveller undergoing hotel quarantine in New South Wales in April

The Lambda variant: Is it REALLY the world’s most transmissible strain?

PHE has spotted the new Covid variant that emerged in Peru in eight Britons.

The ‘Lambda’ 변형, as it’s been named by the World Health Organization, has been designated a ‘Variant Under Investigation’ while PHE work out how infectious, deadly or vaccine-resistant it is.

The British cases of Lambda have been linked to overseas travel. The first was detected in February.

It has two concerning mutations on its spike protein – known as L452Q and F490S – which are feared play a role in making it more infectious and able to dodge some immunity.

The earliest documented sample was reported in Peru and Lambda has been sequenced in around 30 countries to date.

광고

긴장, also known to scientists as C.37, was marked as a ‘variant of interest’ by the WHO last month because of its high transmissibility.

There is no evidence to suggest the strain has started to spread among the community in Australia.

Professor Pablo Tsukayama, Cayetano Heredia University, said the strain has ‘exploded’ in Peru, with the new variant responsible for 82 per cent of current cases.

그는 말했다 Brudnizki는 항상 자신의 가구 브랜드를 만들고 싶었다고 말했습니다. that it made up just one in every 200 samples back in December, when it was first spotted.

‘That would suggest its rate of transmission is higher than any other variant,’ Professor Tsukayama said.

Other experts have also raised concerns about the variant.

Dr Jeffrey Barrett, head of Britain’s Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Welcome Sanger Institute, told the FT: ‘Lambda has a unique pattern of seven mutations in the spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells.

‘Researchers are particularly intrigued by one mutation called L452Q, which is similar to the L452R mutation to contribute to the high infectiousness of the Delta variant.’

Fears about its severity were first raised by the Malaysian Health Ministry.

It reportedly tweeted yesterday: ‘The Lambda strain was reported to have originated from Peru, the country with the highest mortality rate in the world.’

It noted that researchers are worried that this variant may be ‘more infectious than the Delta variant’, Malaysian news websites claimed.

Public Health England made Lambda a ‘variant under investigation’ in June after six cases were detected in returned travellers.

Two new cases have since been detected in the UK.

Chilean scientists who studied blood samples taken form health workers originally found the Lambda variant had the L452Q mutation.

The mutation is similar to the L452R mutation in the Delta and Epsilon variants which researchers believe make it more infectious.

University of Queensland virologist Kirsty Short said more research was needed before classifying Lambda as more infectious than the Delta variant.

‘It’s very preliminary,’ said Dr Short told the 알파벳.

‘It’s a good starting point, but I certainly wouldn’t infer anything from that into the clinic.’