Researchers in Cyprus believe they have found a new corona variant that is a mixture of omicron and delta. FHI believes, however, that this is a laboratory error.
– For the time being, we consider the so-called new variant «delta crown» to be a laboratory error and not a new variant. If the WHO confirms that it is a new variant, we must take a closer look at it, writes chief physician Preben Aavitsland at the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in an email to Dagbladet.
Researchers in Cyprus believe they have discovered a new coronavirus variant. The alleged variant is referred to as a combination of delta and omicron and has therefore been given the name “delta crown” in the media.
Background junk
NIPH is awaiting more information to get a better basis for assessing the Cypriot findings.
– For the time being, it may seem that there may be some problems with the results that have been generated. When you do such a sequencing and look at the viruses in detail, it takes little for there to be any “background debris” in the gene sequences that can indicate that the virus is something other than what it is, says section leader Karoline Bragstad at Section for influenza and other airborne infections in FHI.
Several sow doubts about the «variant»
FHI’s assessment is in line with the assessment of several international researchers, writes VG.
– Delta crown is not real and is probably due to laboratory contamination of sequence fragments with omicron in a delta sample, Krutika Kupalli writes on Twitter.
She is an expert on infectious diseases and a member of the WHO’s covid group.
Kupalli is supported by virologist Tom Peacock at the Imperial Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London. He has been following the “delta crown” since December and believes it is about either contamination or double infection.
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