Bad news on the Covid front with the recombinant variant of Omicron and Delta that would have taken on the worst traits of their ‘parents’.
An Institut Pasteur study published on April 4 in pre-publication without peer review, pointing to the characteristics of the XD variant, this recombinant is long called by Omicron and Delta deltacron.
For the institute, “the recent extensive spread of Delta in the world and its subsequent replacement by viruses of the Omicron lineage have created the conditions for genetic exchange between viruses that exhibit both genetic diversity and phenotypic peculiarities” (combinedly observable characteristics of an organism ). In the study, the French researchers point out that “the recombinant exhibits similar immune evasion properties to Omicron, while its behavior in mice (…) is more similar”.
Devastating in mice
Scientists from the Institut Pasteur infected mice with several variants, including XD. The results are stunning. First observation, the virus circulates as fast as Omicron, but it is just as virulent as Delta with very worrying consequences, as L’Indépendant already revealed in the last few days.
Mice infected with Delta suffered weight loss from day 3 post-infection, with 6 out of 7 mice dying between days 7 and 9. None of the 6 mice infected with Omicron suffered such a fate.
No weight loss was observed with Deltacron in the first 5 days after infection. On the other hand, her health deteriorated between the 5th and 8th days. All (8) died or had to be euthanized on day 9.
Not applicable to humans?
Ultimately, analysis of this data suggests that the XD variant would be as contagious as Omicron and as virulent as Delta. It’s possible, however, that these teachings don’t apply to humans, Science and Future says this Thursday.
Discovered three months ago, XD has grown little, while at the same time Omicron has experienced exponential and meteoric growth, reaching the whole world in just a few weeks.
No more cases detected in France
The XD variant, spotted in northern France on January 3rd, is actually making slow progress at the moment. As of April 13, a total of 84 contaminations with this variant were listed in five countries (France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark), 65 of them in France. However, the latest report from Public Health France, published this Thursday, April 14, revealed that the variant had not been detected in the country for two weeks.