COVID Variants: What Do They Mean?
Last week, we covered two of the most common tests for COVID-19: PCR tests, rapid antigen tests and the differences between them. Now, we are continuing our exploration of the way our understanding of the virus has developed over the past two years.
It isn’t just our knowledge that has evolved, COVID itself has too. As the DNA of the virus mutates, it creates what is known as a variant. These variants are a hot topic at the moment, from Delta to Omicron, but what is a variant and what do they mean for us?
What is a variant?
Just like humans, when viruses multiply, they produce new genetic mutations. Some of these mutations will be preferable for the virus’ survival, while others won’t. The mutations that are preferable will live on and multiply, but most mutations will die out.
With human evolution, we call this survival of the fittest, and the concept is no different in diseases. The main difference is that humans take millions of years to evolve, but COVID-19 is doing so right in front of our eyes.
Genome sequencing has allowed us to test COVID-positive samples to work out which variant a person is infected with. That sequencing has led to the discovery of two variants of concern: Delta and Omicron.
Delta
The Delta variant was the first ‘variant of concern’ to be identified, and it caused a worldwide stir. It is more contagious and potentially more severe, as well as being more likely to cause what is known as breakthrough infection in vaccinated people.
Delta’s symptoms are subtly different from the original virus’ and previous variants, as it caused more cold-like symptoms and a sore throat. The most notable symptom related to the original virus was the loss of taste and smell, which may be less common in later variants.
Delta was treated with concern because it infected more people. Unvaccinated people were especially likely to catch it, but even vaccinated people were becoming sick. There were also more people in ICU with Delta than any other variant.
Omicron
More recently, Omicron was first discovered by a team of South African scientists led by Sikhulile Moyo. At first, the world panicked as we imagined the Delta-style lockdowns all over again, but it seems to be different this time.
Although it is much more infectious (estimations are that it is up to 4 times more contagious than Delta), it does appear to be less severe. The numbers of people in the ICU are much fewer than all previous strains, and these are so far only unvaccinated people.
Healthy, vaccinated adults are reporting mild symptoms that last only a few days – something that many of us are taking as a positive sign that the end is near. The best way to protect yourself from any strain of COVID is to get vaccinated.
So, what do they mean?
With Omicron being milder than previous COVID-19 variants, there is a glimmer of hope. In the best-case scenario, the virus will continue to mutate and make people less sick each time. This is what some experts believe could happen, as no virus wants to kill its hosts quickly and become extinct.
In a less than perfect future, however, COVID’s variants could be as or even more severe, as well as more infectious. If the virus is transmitted before the host becomes seriously ill, its deadliness would not prevent it from spreading.
The bottom line, unfortunately, is that no one knows.
Hopefully, we will continue progressing towards ‘living with the virus’ until we manage it in the same way we manage every other infectious disease. Lockdowns will be a thing of the past and we will simply reminisce about these strange times.