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Delta variant May Be As Contagious As Chickenpox: CDC Report
The Delta variant of the coronavirus may cause more severe illness than all other known versions of the virus and spread as easily as chickenpox, US media reports quoting an internal document from the US health authority said.
The document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlines unpublished data that shows fully vaccinated people might spread the Delta variant, first identified in India, at the same rate as unvaccinated people, reports said. The contents of the document - a slide presentation - were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday.
Dr Rochelle P Walensky, the director of the CDC, acknowledged on Tuesday that vaccinated people with so-called breakthrough infections of the Delta variant carry just as much virus in the nose and throat as unvaccinated people and may spread it just as readily, if less often. But the internal document lays out a broader and even grimmer view of the variant.
The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was also obtained by The New York Times.
The Delta variant -- originally known as B.1.617.2 -- might cause more severe disease, according to the document. The immediate next step for the agency is to "acknowledge the war has changed," the document said. The document's tone reflects alarm among CDC scientists about Delta's spread across the country, the NYT quoted a federal official, who has seen the research described in the document, as saying.
The
agency
is
expected
to
publish
additional
data
on
the
deadly
variant
on
Friday.
"The
CDC.
is
very
concerned
with
the
data
coming
in
that
Delta
is
a
very
serious
threat
that
requires
action
now,"
the
official
said.
There
are
roughly
35,000
symptomatic
infections
per
week
among
162
million
vaccinated
Americans,
according
to
data
collected
by
the
CDC
as
of
July
24
that
was
cited
in
the
internal
presentation.
But
the
agency
does
not
track
all
mild
or
asymptomatic
infections,
so
the
actual
incidence
may
be
higher.
Infection
with
the
Delta
variant
produces
virus
amounts
in
the
airways
that
are
tenfold
higher
than
what
is
seen
in
people
infected
with
the
Alpha
variant,
which
is
also
highly
contagious,
the
document
noted.
The
amount
of
virus
in
a
person
infected
with
Delta
is
a
thousandfold
more
than
what
is
seen
in
people
infected
with
the
original
version
of
the
virus,
according
to
one
recent
study.
The
CDC
document
relies
on
data
from
multiple
studies,
including
an
analysis
of
a
recent
outbreak
in
Provincetown,
Massachusetts,
which
began
after
the
town's
Fourth
of
July
festivities.
Walensky told CNN that the Delta variant "is one of the most transmissible viruses we know about. Measles, chickenpox, this -- they're all up there." And she said everyone in schools -- students, staff and visitors -- should wear masks at all times. "The measures we need to get this under control -- they're extreme. The measures you need are extreme," Walensky said.
"The bottom line was that, in contrast to the other variants, vaccinated people, even if they didn't get sick, got infected and shed virus at similar levels as unvaccinated people who got infected," Walter Orenstein, who heads the Emory Vaccine Center and who viewed the documents, told CNN.
But vaccinated people are safer, the document indicates. "Vaccines prevent more than 90 per cent of severe disease, but may be less effective at preventing infection or transmission," it reads. "Therefore, more breakthrough and more community spread despite vaccination," the document adds.
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