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Fears emerge over new hybrid Covid strain Deltacron: 'The real thing'

Experts are warning people to keep an eye on a new hybrid version of the coronavirus, which has genes from both the Delta and Omicron variants.

The new variant has been appropriately dubbed 'Deltacron', however, there are few confirmed cases as of right now.

IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille, France published a report about the variant earlier this week which is awaiting peer review.

Lead author Philippe Colson said because there have been few confirmed cases of the hybrid, it is too soon to know whether Deltacron will be very transmissible or cause severe disease.

"During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, two or more variants have co-circulated during the same periods of time and in same geographical areas ... This created opportunities for recombination between these two variants," said Colson according to Reuters.

Pictured is a woman on a train in France where cases of Deltacron have been identified.
Cases of an Omicron-Delta hybrid "Deltacron" have been confirmed in France. Source: Bloomberg

The team at IHU described three patients in France infected with a version of SARS-CoV-2 that combines the spike protein from an Omicron variant with the "body" of a Delta variant.

There have also been two unrelated Deltacron infections identified in the US, according to a yet-to-be published report from genetics research company Helix, which was seen by Reuters.

On virus research bulletin boards, other teams have reported an additional 12 Deltacron infections in Europe since January — all with an Omicron spike and a Delta body, Reuters reported.

The Independent reported L’Institut Pasteur had identified the Deltacron variant in several regions in France and the hybrid had been in circulation since January this year.

While experts agree there is a need for more research to be done, some have warned the hybrid should be monitored.

Earlier this year, the UK also identified a case of a hybrid of Delta and Omicron, after a patient caught both variants at the same time.

Virologist Leondios Kostrikis announced in early January that his research group at the University of Cyprus had identified several SARS-CoV-2 genomes featuring both the Delta and Omicron variants.

However, at the time, some experts said this could have been a lab error.

Hybrid variant one to 'keep an eye on'

Evolution and genomics professor Aris Katzourakis from the University of Oxford said the new variant was "legit" and that it was one to "keep an eye on."

Virologist Professor Lawrence Young from Warwick University echoed that sentiment.

"This looks like the real thing,” he said, The Independent reported.

“An authentic recombinant. We need to keep an eye on its behaviour in terms of transmissibility and ability to evade vaccine-induced immune protection.”

Experts are warning the hybrid variant is worth keeping an eye one. Source: Getty Images
Experts are warning the hybrid variant is worth keeping an eye one. Source: Getty Images

However, William Lee, the chief science officer at Helix said there is a chance Deltacron may not become a variant of concern.

"The fact that there is not that much of it, that even the two cases we saw were different, suggests that it's probably not going to elevate to a variant of concern level," he told USA Today.

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