COVID-19 A Deadly Virus
Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of virus known as corona
virus which was first discovered in China. ‘CO’ means corona, ‘VI’ means virus and
‘D’ stands for disease. People who have been encountered by this virus
experience mild to moderate symptoms such as fever, cold, dry cough, loss of
taste and smell, sore throat, etc. the virus affects people in different ways
depending on their age and immune system.
But recently, scientists have discovered a new strain of coronavirus which is
detected in many people recently. Alpha variant, also called lineage B.1,1.7, is a
variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19. This new strain of virus was first
detected in November 2020 in UK and from mid-December, its cases started to
increase rapidly. Scientists are researching about the effects caused by this virus
and can prevented by existing vaccines in action.
New Strains of Corona Virus
The new strains of virus is detected due to mutation. Some variants just occur
and tend to disappear and remain unnoticed. Many different strains of this virus
can detected in UK and across the world. Whenever a new strain is
detected, scientists study the differences and then decide whether it is more/less
dangerous than the other one.
Different New Strain Variants Detected in the US
- B.1.1.7 (Alpha)- It is by discovered in the US in year 2020.
- B.1.351 (Beta)- This variant was first discovered in January 2021 in South Africa.
- P.1 (Gamma)- It was first detected in January 2021 in travelers from Brazil. Those who travelers have tested positive for this new strain the routine screening at the airport of Japan.
- B.1.427 and B.1.429 (Epsilon)- These strains detected by California in February 2021.
- B.1.617.2 (Delta)- This strain was first detected in March 2021 into and the US but it initially identified India in December 2020 only.
Scientists so far have researched and then they said that are some of the variants
which are spreading more than quickly, and it was other ones and are responsible for the
increasing cases of Covid-19. But, studies have found that the existing vaccines
work on these variants.
