Delta Variant Has Hit RI – What You Need to Know

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Nick Landekic, Guest MINDSETTER™

Delta Variant Killed hundreds of thousands in India PHOTO: Nirian Reid CC 2.0

Across the country, COVID infection rates are the lowest they have been in over a year. Not quite half the country is fully vaccinated, with Rhode Island at about 56%. We are all enjoying summer and celebrating the relaxation of safety measures. It’s been a long year and a half, and over 600,000 Americans – and millions more around the world – are no longer with us because of the pandemic.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been sleeping, and continues to mutate and infect people. In Rhode Island, the infection rate today is not much different from what it was last July - at a time when we were all being very careful and observing multiple safety.

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Delta variant originated in India PHOTO: CDC

It’s still here and among us.

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The latest variant causing concern is Delta, previously also called the “India” or B.1.617.2 variant. Delta has 13 mutations that combine to make it more easily transmitted, cause more serious disease, and be partially resistant to neutralization by antibodies. It was first identified in India and is believed responsible for the devastating surge in infection there this spring. It has been found in 80 countries and is now predominant in the U.K. causing 99% of infections there despite the progress in vaccination.

Delta is now responsible for about 10% of all COVID cases in the U.S. and is doubling every two weeks. The first cases of the Delta variant have been found in Rhode Island, and Massachusetts has already reported more than 150 cases.

It’s helpful to look at what’s been happening elsewhere to learn and be prepared for what we will likely face – it’s better to be prepared than blindsided. Given that Delta has rapidly spread and become the predominant strain in other countries where it has been found, the same will probably happen here.

The Delta variant is different from other coronavirus strains Rhode Island has faced. Here are a few things you should know.

1. The Delta variant is more easily spread than other strains
The Delta variant may be the most contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus so far. Experience in the U.K. show that it’s about 60% more easily transmitted than the Alpha (B.1.1.7, “U.K.”) variant which in itself was about 60% more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 strain we faced at the start of the pandemic.

This may make Delta the most contagious variant so far, which explains why it has quickly become predominant in countries where it’s been found, and why it’s increasing so fast here.

A recent study looked at the Alpha variant to understand why it is so much more easily spread. The investigators found that the Alpha variant is able to suppress the human immune system and turn down the defensive genes normally turned on by infection, and reduce the amount of interferon produced by the body. Essentially, the variant is able to partially ‘blind’ the human body’s defenses to it, and thus reproduce in greater numbers and cause more serious infection.

The body eventually has a delayed response to infection, but in the meantime, the variant has multiplied to a greater extent than otherwise would be possible. Infected people then have an elevated response to infection - and as a result, shed more virions, and cough, sneeze, and breath out more viral particles into the air, thus spreading more infection than other strains.

It’s a very clever, insidious, and frightening adaptation by the virus to promote its survival and reproduction - at our expense. The Alpha variant is now the predominant strain in RI, responsible for about 2/3 of our infections. It would not be surprising if the Delta variant uses a similar approach to spread itself more easily.

2. The Delta variant causes more serious illness
Delta causes more serious illness and risk of hospitalization compared with Alpha which itself was 67% more lethal than the original coronavirus strain we faced.

If you get infected with Delta, you are almost three times more likely to need to be hospitalized compared with the already more serious Alpha variant.

We are still learning about the coronavirus. One of the many recent findings is that lung damage after infection can be more common and severe than previously thought. A recent study found persistent, long-term lung damage in COVID survivors at least three months after discharge with 70% of survivors experiencing breathlessness.

Another recent study found that COVID causes loss of brain tissue. In this study of nearly 800 people, bran scans of normal compared with COVID survivors showed significant loss of grey matter in the brain, particularly in regions related to smell and taste, as well as memory and emotion.

A number of previous studies have found that COVID causes neurological damage and cognitive impairment with one large study in over 84,000 people finding that having COVID was equivalent to the brain aging by 10 years.

This recent study by Oxford University suggests that the cause of these problems is actual destruction of brain tissue, which generally has been considered permanent.
In addition to possibly being the most contagious virus strain so far, Delta might also be the most lethal and cause the most long-term problems for survivors.

3. The Delta variant will be more difficult to treat
If you get infected with the Delta variant, it will be more difficult to treat you. This is both because the infection can be more serious, and also because the available monoclonal antibody medications are less effective against it. A recent study of four approved antibody drugs showed either reduced sensitivity or even complete resistance of Delta to those drugs.

When a variant shows reduced susceptibility to a drug, it means a higher amount of drug would be needed. However, patients often cannot safely tolerate much higher concentrations. This could leave you with fewer options for treatment if you become infected.

4. What to do about Delta
What everyone should do is straightforward: get vaccinated.

The Delta variant poses a very different risk than the original coronavirus. You are more likely to get infected, and if you do, also more likely to have serious illness that will be more difficult to treat.

We are incredibly fortunate to have vaccines effective against the Delta variant. It has been shown that the Pfizer vaccine is 96% effective in preventing hospitalization. The Moderna vaccine is a similar mRNA type, which Dr. Anthony Fauci believes should be comparably effective against the Delta variant. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is about 60% effective https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/06/delta-covid-variant-does-johnson-johnson-vaccine-work-against-the-new-coronavirus-strain.html.

If you're vaccinated, you have very low odds of contracting COVID-19 and extremely low odds of it becoming severe enough to require emergency medical care. If you're not vaccinated, you're at least just as and probably more likely to catch COVID-19 right now as you were through much of the rest of the pandemic.

If you do get it, you're going to be the reason why other people get sick and possibly die. The virus is spreading among children because children can't get the vaccine yet. The virus is also killing immunocompromised patients because people who haven't been vaccinated are spreading it to them.

In Rhode Island, 41% of COVID cases right now are in those under age 24, and 70% in those under 39. By getting vaccinated, in addition to protecting yourself, you may save the lives of your family, friends, and children by keeping them from getting infected with the Delta variant.

2.6 billion vaccine doses have been given around the world so far. This is an enormous number of people that provides a massive database and extensive experience. More people may have received the coronavirus vaccine than any other one drug in history. All the reports continue to show that the vaccines are extraordinarily safe. The risk of any possible side effects is much, much less than that of dying of COVID.

There has been a lot of chatter about the risk of blood clots from certain COVID vaccines. Extensive analysis of patient experiences shows that the risk is about 1 in 250,000. Compare that to the 1 in 500 of all people in the U.S. that have already died of COVID and the more than 1 in 4 that have had symptomatic COVID illness.

The bottom line is, you are 10 times more likely to have a blood clot from COVID than the vaccine, 500 times more likely to die of COVID than have a vaccine-related blood clot, and 70,000 times more likely to have health problems from COVID than the vaccine. Which odds do you prefer?

The Delta variant is already here. It will increase, and likely become predominant in Rhode Island. The state has all but eliminated any safety measures and is wide open to whatever the virus wants to do.

Nick Landekic a retired scientist and biotechnology executive with over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Delta Variant Has Hit RI – What You Need to Know

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Delta Variant Has Hit RI – What You Need to Know

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