eople infected with the most transmissible Delta variant have a viral load 300 times higher than those with the original version of the COVID-19 virus when symptoms are first observed, a study from South Korea found.
But the amount gradually decreased over time, to 30 times in four days and more than ten times in nine days, and was in line with levels seen in other variants after ten days, the US Agency for Disease Prevention and Control said Tuesday. Korea (KDCA).
The higher burden means the virus spreads much more easily from person to person, increasing infections and hospitalizations, said a health ministry official, Lee Sang-won, at a news conference.
“But that doesn’t mean Delta is 300 times more infectious … we think its transmission rate is 1.6 times the Alpha variant, and about twice the original version of the virus,” Lee said.
The Delta variant of the new coronavirus was first identified in India and the Alpha variant in the United Kingdom.
To prevent the spread of the Delta variant, now the dominant strain worldwide, the KDCA urged people to get tested immediately when they develop COVID-19 symptoms and avoid in-person meetings.
The rapid spread of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates have caught much of Asia off guard, especially in emerging markets, even as the economies of Europe and North America reopen.
The study compared the viral load of 1,848 patients infected with the Delta variant with 22,106 people who had other strains.