The Covid Delta variant remains a “variant of concern,” as it is more transmissible, more severe, and less susceptible to vaccinations. It is the most common strain of COVID-19 in the United States, and some specialists believe it may induce a different set of symptoms.
A new study from the University of Boston School of Public Health suggests that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are more contagious two days before and three days after the onset of symptoms.
According to a related article in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers found that coronavirus carriers were more likely to be asymptomatic if they had contracted the virus from a person who was also asymptomatic.
The presymptomatic transmission was a characteristic of prior coronavirus types, but the study indicates that the time between receiving a positive test and experiencing symptoms was only 0.8 days.
It takes 1.8 days with the Delta variant.
As a result, roughly three-quarters of Delta infections occur within the presymptomatic stage, according to the study.
However, scientists note that declining protection is to be expected and that the vaccines are still effective.
A study looked at data on positive Covid PCR test results from more than a million persons who had received two doses of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccination between May and July 2021.
Protection after two Pfizer shots dropped from 88 percent after one month to 74 percent after five to six months.
At four to five months, the AstraZeneca vaccine dropped from 77 percent to 67 percent.
Dr Stefen Ammon, medical director of the COVID-19 Task Force for DispatchHealth, commented:
“The Delta strain is more contagious, in part, because infected individuals carry and shed more virus than previous versions.
“While the earlier version of COVID-19 was as transmissible as the common cold, the Delta variant is more transmissible than seasonal influenza, polio, smallpox, Ebola, and the bird flu, and is as contagious as chickenpox.”
Vaccines continue to be the best form of protection against severe COVID-19 patients.
However, researchers have discovered a decrease in protection against Covid infections in double-jabbed persons.
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