Scientists in Japan believe that the number of cases of Covid-19 of the Delta variant may be declining because it has mutated to extinction.
Experts believe that the Delta variant may have simply mutated to disappear
Delta, one of the so-called ‘lineages’ of the coronavirus has spread rapidly to become the most dominant form of the virus.
It is believed to have originated in India and is much more transmissible than the original ‘Wuhan’ strain.
Like the UK, Japan was a victim of Delta and cases peaked at 23,000 a day in August. However, that wave has almost completely passed with cases now at 140 per day.
Experts believe that the Delta strain may have simply mutated to death, according to a report by The Japan Times.
When a virus mutates, its genetic makeup changes slightly. In some cases, this can help you bypass immunity or create different symptoms, but it can also lead to evolutionary dead ends.
Delta variant could not continue to propagate and repair errors that were accumulating at the same time
Researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Genetics believe this is what happened after observing an enzyme called nsp14. The purpose of the enzyme is to correct errors caused by replication.
Ituro Inoue, a professor of genetics at the institute, said Delta couldn’t keep spreading and repairing errors that were piling up at the same time.
“We were literally surprised to see the findings,” said Professor Inoue. “The Delta variant in Japan was highly transmissible and it kept out other variants. But as the mutations accumulated, we believe that it eventually became a defective virus and was unable to make copies of itself.
“Taking into account that the cases have not increased, we believe that at some point during such mutations it went directly towards its natural extinction.”
Others argue that Japan’s vaccination program should be thanked for the dramatic drop in cases.
More than 75 percent of Japan’s population has a double puncture, and face masks are commonly used in public settings in the country.
NEW OMICROM VARIANT
What is known about the now known Omicrom variant is that the first reported case occurred in South Africa on November 24, 2021. The epidemiological situation in that nation has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the last of which it was predominantly the Delta variant.
In recent weeks, infections have increased considerably, coinciding with the detection of this mutation. The first known confirmed infection was from a sample collected on November 9, 2021.
While to date cases have already been confirmed in other nations such as Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. Due to the rapidity of its expansion, some nations have already begun with flight restrictions.
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