Deltacron circulating in Thailand since December, all patients recovered

The head of the Department of Medical Sciences says the Deltacron mutation has been circulating in Thailand since at least December, but is not a cause for concern. According to a Thai PBS World report, Dr. Supakit Sirilak says 73 cases were detected during December and January, and all patients have recovered. Deltacron is thought to be a combination of mutations from both the Delta and Omicron variants.

Supakit says his team decoded the genetic makeup of the 73 cases and concluded the infections were most likely Deltacron, with the samples submitted to GISAID, a global science initiative and primary source that provides open access to the genomic data of influenza viruses, as well as the Covid-19 virus.

According to Supakit, the suspected Deltacron infections were found at a time when Delta was still circulating in Thailand, albeit being detected in only a small number of cases. Its presence, however, would afford it the opportunity to merge with Omicron. Now that Omicron has become the dominant variant in the kingdom, accounting for nearly 100% of infections, Supakit says it’s likely Deltacron will eventually die out, as happened with the Beta variant. There are currently no indications it would take over from Omicron as the dominant variant.

Supakit says his department monitored 1,981 infections between March 12 and 18 and found only 1 Delta case. The remainder were all Omicron. While the World Health Organisation continues to monitor Deltacron, it has not classified it as a “variant of concern”.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World