AR
UR
Scientists continue to conduct studies to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the humanity. Here is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19 with some of them suggesting further research to corroborate the findings
'Deltacron' with genes of Delta and Omicron found
Researchers have identified hybrid versions of Coronavirus with a combination of genes from the Delta and Omicron variants in at least 17 patients in the United States and Europe.
This version has been dubbed Deltacron by researchers.
Noting that there are few confirmed cases, researchers state that it is too soon to determine of Deltacron infections will be very transmissible or cause severe disease,
Philippe Colson of IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille, France, and his team studied three patients in the European nation infected with a version of SARS-CoV-2 that has a combination of spike protein from Omicron variant with the body of Delta variant. Colson is the lead author of a report on COVID-19 posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
In the United States, two unrelated Deltacron infections have been identified by researchers according to an unpublished report by genetics research company Helix. The report has been submitted to medRxiv.
Since January, various teams have reported an additional 12 Deltacron infections in Europe - all with a combination of Omicron spike and a Delta body.
"During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, two or more variants have co-circulated during same periods of time and in same geographical areas. This created opportunities for recombination between these two variants," said Colson.
He added that his team has designed a PCR test to detect positive samples for the presence of this virus.
Dogs sniff out Coronavirus with high accuracy
According to a new research, there are evidence that trained dogs could help in screening and identifying people infected with Coronavirus.
Researchers collected sweat samples from 335 volunteers getting traditional PCR tests from two community screening centres in Paris. As per the PCR Test results, 78 people with symptoms and 31 people without symptoms tested positive for COVID-19.
In terms of sweat samples for dogs to smell, the animal was 97% accurate at detecting the infected patients. Furthermore, dogs were 100 percent accurate at detecting asymptomatic patients infected with COVID-19. At the same time, dogs were 91 percent accurate at identifying volunteers who were not infected and 94 per cent accurate at rejecting infection among people without symptoms.
The authors of the study stated that canine testing is non-invasive and provides immediate and reliable results.
"Further studies will be focused on direct sniffing by dogs to evaluate sniffer dogs for mass pre-test in airports, harbours, railways stations, cultural activities or sporting events," the authors added.
Future variants-of-concern likely lurk in today's patients
Recent research are also suggesting that many Coronavirus particles inside an infected person may include some mutated ones. These can emerge into early examples of important variants.
In April 2021, some researchers in Spain closely analysed virus particles obtained from 10 people with infections linked to the Alpha variant. During the study, researchers identified some mutated particles resembling the Omicron variant.
Furthermore, they found mutations characteristic of a type of Delta and Iota, as per a report published on Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
In the paper, researchers stated that "ultra deep" genetic sequencing used in the study could assist scientists in tracking mutations in SARS-CoV-2 particles that could become variants of concern.
"The virus that replicates in each infected patient is, in reality, a mixture of slightly different SARS-CoV-2 viruses," and these different viruses account for varying proportions of the full "ensemble," said co-author Celia Perales of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.
She added that minority variants in one infected individual can become dominant in another patients. It can happen either by chance or due to a selective advantage linked to the presence or absence of drugs, vaccines, or other factors.
SOURCE: Khaleej Times