>> THE EXPLODING CASE LOAD THIS TIME IS TRACED TO THE MORE OFFING COVID VARIANT, THE DELTA,
THE GYMA FROM BRAZIL, THE LANDA
FROM PERU, THE B.1.621 FROM
COLOMBIA.
>> AND THEY ARE ALL FUELED BY
UNVACCINATED PEOPLE WHO THEN
BECOME THE MOST FOR THESE
VIRUSES, THE SEQUENCING THAT
IDENTIFIES SOME OF THOSE
VARIANTS IS DONE RIGHT HERE IN
SOUTH FLORIDA, AT A LAB AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.
AND DR. DAVID AN VIEW-- ANDREWS
RUNS THAT BE LA, HE JOINS US
NOW, DR. ANDREWS, GOOD MORNING,
GOOD TO SEE YOU.
>> GOOD MORNING.
>> DR. ANDREWS, IT IS ALWAYS
GREAT TO HAVE A SCIENTIST WITH
US TO HELP US FIGURE OUT WHAT IS
GOING ON.
SO I ACTUALLY CAN RECITE THE
GREEK ALPHABET, WE’VE GOT ALPHA,
BETA GAMMA, THE COLOMBIAN
VARIANT DOESN’T HAVE A GREEK
LETTER YET BUT THAT DELTA
VARIANT RIGHT NOW IS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY EIGHT OUT OF TEN CASES,
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE
IN THE DELTA VARIANT THAT YOU
ARE FINDING THAT IS SO MUCH
WORK?
>> SO BEFORE I DESCRIBE THE
VARIANTS AND GET INTO SOME OF
THAT INFORMATION, I REALLY WANT
TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY
UNDERSTANDS HOW
MULTIDISCIPLINARY THE PROJECT IS
THAT WE ARE ENGAGED IN.
WE HAVE BEEN SEQUENCING NOW
SINCE LATE JANUARY, BUT THIS IS
A PROGRAM THAT HAS BEEN AGAIN
INVOLVED MANY INDIVIDUALS.
THE ACTUAL SEQUENCING OPERATION
IS IN THE CANCER CENTER AT THE
DWREUFORT OF MIAMI.
THEY PIVOTED FROM THEIR CANCER
SEQUENCING EFFORT TO BE ABLE TO
ACCOMMODATE THE VIRUS WHICH IS
VERY THEM.
THEY ARE RANDOM SAMPLES
RETRIEVING FROM PATIENTS WHO
TEST POSITIVE.
THAT IS THE BACKGROUNDS OF WHAT
WE ARE SAMPLING RIGHT NOW.
>> NOW IF YOU WANT I WILL
ADDRESS THE QUESTION WHICH IS
THE HOTTEST QUESTION RIGHT NOW
THAT I’M GETTING A LOT OF
INQUIRIES ABOUT IS THE B.1.621
VARIANT ALSO CALLED THE
COLOMBIAN VARIANT.
>> I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW,
DOCTOR, WE ACTUALLY LEARNED OF
THE COLOMBIAN VARIANT AND THE
LITTLE SURGE FROM THE C.E.O. OF
JACKSON, CARLOS ME GOIO-- ME
GOYA WHO WAS WITH US A FEW WEEKS
AGO.
I WE HAD CALLS FROM COLOMBIAN
AMERICANS THAT DON’T LIKE THAT
IT IS CALLED THE COLOMBIAN
VARIANT.
CLEARLY IT IS ABOUT ORIGINATION
AND NOT ABOUT CULTURE, BUT THAT
WAS SURPRISING TO US.
SO WHERE DID THAT COME FROM AND
WHAT IS THAT, AND WHAT TO
EXPECT.
>> SO I THINK I CAN CLARIFY
WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT IS
HAPPENING.
IN OUR LAST SEQUENCING RUN AND
WE GROUP SEQUENCES TYPICALLY BY
WEEKS AS WE-- AS WE RECEIVE
SAMPLES.
WE DID SEE A 10% PREVALENCE IN
OUR SAMPLE OF ABOUT 90 SAMPLES,
WE SAW NINE CASES OUT OF ABOUT
90 OF THE B.1620, YOU SEE HOW
HARD IT ST-- B.1.621 VARAN.
WHICH HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH
COLOMBIA.
BUT LET ME SAY WHY IT HAS BEEN
ASSOCIATED WITH COLOMBIA.
AND BY THE WAY, IT IS ABOUT THE
FOURTH MOST PREVALENT IN THE
UNITED STATES BASED ON THE CDC
DATA.
ROUGHLY ABOUT 2 PERCENT OF
VARIANTS I’M SEEING IN THE
UNITED STAYS.
DELTA IS 80 OR 90% RIGHT NOW
NATIONALLY, AND OUR LAST
SAMPLING WAS 63% BUT HERE IS
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE
B.1.621 AND THEN WE CAN SPEAK
ABOUT THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS.
RIGHT NOW IN THE COUNTRY OF
COLOMBIA, THIS IS A VERY
PREVALENT VARIANT.
ONE OF THE MANY ONLINE RESOURCES
IT IS UPWARDS OF 30% OF VARIANTS
THERE.
HERE IT IS RE LITTLE.
WORLD I WOULD IT ST 0.05 PERCENT
AND IN IT ST PREVALENT THERE, IT
DID NOT ORIGINATE IN COLOMBIA.
BUT TO COLOMBIA’S CREDIT, A
BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE APPEARED IN
MAY, DESCRIBING THE ARTICLE CAME
OUT OF THE AGAINOMICS GROUP,
VERY SOPHISTICATED ARTICLE,
AGAIN OMIC TBROWP OF
MICROORGANIZISMS-- BEAUTIFUL
ARTICLE WAS PUB LUSHED THAT
CHARACTERIZED THIS LINEAGE IN
GREAT DETAIL AND ALL KOL OM PAN
AUTHORS, SO THAT ARTICLE HAS
BEEN READ WIDELY THROUGHOUT THE
WORD IT IS NOT A UNIQUELY
COLOMBIAN VARIANT IT DIDN’T
ORIGINATE IN COLOMBIA T IS
PRESENT NOW IN MANY DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES BUT I MUST SAY, SO IT
IS WRONG FOR US TO BE REFERRING
TO IT AS THE KOL OM PAN VARIANT
WHICH IS WHY WE MOVED AWAY FROM
GEOGRAPHIC DESIGNATIONS FOR
THESE VARIANTS TO GREEK ALPHABET
VARIANTS.
UNFORTUNATELY THE GREEK ALPHABET
HAS NOT BEEN ASSIGNED TO THIS
VARIANT.
IT IS A VARIANT OF INTEREST.
IT DOES HAVE MANY OF THE
FEATURES.
I CALL IT A BAD PLAYER, THE
SPIKE PROTEIN HAS FEATURES THAT
ARE SEEN IN MANY OF THE OTHER
LINEAGES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED
WITH SOME OF THE FEATURES WE
DON’T LIKE, INCREASED
TRANSMISSION, POSSIBLE
PROPERTIES OF IMMUNOSCAPE, SO IT
IS ONE TO DEEP AN EYE ON.
>> IN LAYMAN’S TERM, WHAT IS
THAT, WHY?
>> SO THERE ARE A COUPLE OF
FEARED CHARACTERISTICS OF ANY
VARIANT.
NMENT ONE, IS IT SPHRED MORE
RAPIDLY.
CLEARLY THAT’S THE FEATURE THAT
IS THE CASE WITH DELTA, YOU
KNOW, IT’S BEING CALLED ALMOST
AS TRANSMISSIBLE AS CHICKEN POX,
IT’S UNBELIEVABLE THAT THE
VARIANT HAS MUT ATE INTO A FORM
THAT IS SO RAPIDLY
TRANSMISSIBLE.
THE SECOND PROPERTY THAT WE’RE,
THAT IS FOR WHICH THERE HAS NOT
BEEN A TREMENDOUS, THERE, SOME
OF THESE VARIANTS HAVE SOME
EVIDENCE OF BUT NOT, WE HAVEN’T
YET SEEN, A VARIANT THAT HAS
TRUE IMMUNO SCAPE FOR WHICH THE
VACCINES DO NOT WORK.
AS WAS STATED BY MAYOR GELLER.
THE VACCINES DO WORK.
THEY KEEP YOU SICK, THEY KEEP
YOU OUT OF THE HOSPITAL.
THEY KEEP YOU FROM DYING.
SO VACCINATION IS BY FAR THE
NUMBER ONE MESSAGE.
>> DOCTOR, IF I MAY JUMP IN HERE
IT IS PRETTY CLEAR FROM WHAT YOU
DESCRIBED.
ENORMOUSLY SOPHISTICATED
OPERATION YOU HAVE OVER THERE
AND A WHOLE TEAM AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MEDICAL
SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, WORK BE ON
THIS.
TALK TO US ABOUT THE APPLICATION
OF WHAT YOU ARE
CERTAINING-- LEARNING, FOR
EXAMPLE, AS GLENNA MENTIONED,
YOU KNOW, MR. MIGOYA WAS ON THIS
PROGRAM ABOUT THREE OR FOUR
WEEKS AGO, HE SAID LAST MONTH WE
HAD TWO PEOPLE IN JACKSON WITH
THE DELTA VARIANT, NOW WE HAVE
49.
SO WHEN YOU DO THE SEQUENCING,
HOW DOES THAT HELP THE DOCTORS,
NURSES AT JACKSON AND OTHER
HOSPITALS DO THEIR WORK.
>> RIGHT NOW THE SEQUENCING HAS
ACTUALLY BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT
THIS, THAT THE DELTA VARIANT HAS
SUCH HIGH TRANSMISS ABILITY,
EXTREMELY CONTAGIOUS, IT IS
INCREASING OUR VIJ LENS TO BOTH
PERSONAL PROTECTION, THAT IS HOW
PATIENTS ARE HANDLED WE ASSUME
THAT ALL CASES COMING IN ARE THE
DELTA VARIANT, WHAT IS BEING
REFLECTED NATDLY, WE’RE GOING TO
SEE THAT NOW.
OUR LATEST SEQUENCING REPORT
WILL BE COMING OUT THIS BOOK.
WE’RE SURE IT WILL BE IN THE 80
TO 90 PERCENT RANGE.
FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES, FOR
MANAGEMENT OF THE PATIENT, FOR
DEALING WITH THE ILLNESS, IT IS
BEING DEALT WITH IN THE SAME
MANNER AS BEFORE.
DESPITE THIS VIRUS HAVING SOME
EVIDENCE OF THE DELTA VARIANT,
OF BEING MORE SEVERE, SO ON
AVERAGE, WHEN IT CAUSES AN
INFECTION T MAY ACTUALLY HAVE A
PROPERTY OF INCREASED DEGREE OF
SEVERITY OF ILLNESS.
>> SO THAT MEANS, YOU ARE
TALKING ABOUT THE DELTA VARIANT
OR ARE YOU TACK BEING ALL THE
VARIANTS.
>> THE DELTA VARIANT, YES.
>> SO I WANT TO JUST HAVE YOU
REITERATE THESE VARIANTS THAT
ARE MORE OFFING FROM THE
ORIGINAL, ARE BECAUSE WHY?
THERE ARE HOSTS FOR THEM?
>> SO, SO OKAY, IT’S A THEME
THAT WE’VE HEARD BEFORE.
ALL VIRUSES MUTATE, THIS VIRUS
HAS ON AN ONGOING BASIS, THERE
ARE MISTAKES MADE IN THE GENOME,
THESE OCCUR, SOME ARE DEL
TERIOUS, THE STRAWNS DO NOT
EMERGE BUT WHEN WE HAVE SUCH
HIGH NUMBERS OF INFECTED
INDIVIDUALS, EVERY ONCE IN A
WHILE A MUTATION OCCURS FOR
WHICH THE VIRUS HAS INCREASED
WITNESS.
IT’S MORE RO TUS-- ROBUST, FOR
ONE REASON OR ANOTHER IT’S
STRONGER THAN A PREVIOUS FORM OF
THE VIRUS, A PARENTAL STRAIN IS
HOW WE REFER TO THE PREVIOUS
STRAIN, AND IN THIS CASE,
UNEQUIVOCALLY WHAT THIS STRAIN
HAS, IT IS BASICALLY
TRANSMISSION RATE T IS ON
STEROIDS, THIS THING HAS, IS NOW
ABLE, SO TALKING ABOUT R-0, R
NAUGHT PROPERTIES, IF AN
INDIVIDUAL IS IN A ROOM WITH TEN
OTHER PEOPLE AND THEY’RE
INFECTED, THEY ARE MORE, MUCH
MORE LIKELY TO TRANSMIT THIS
VIRUS TO OTHERS IN THE ROOM.
>> YEAH.
>> TERRIBLY DANGEROUS, DR. DAVID
ANDREWS, WE ARE DPRAITFUL FOR
YOU AND YOUR TEAM THERE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.
THANK YOU FOR THE GOOD WORK YOU
ARE DOING AND LET’S HOPE THAT WE
GET EVERYBODY VACCINATED AND DO
NOT FALL PREY TO THE DELTA OR
ANY OF THE OTHER VARIANTS.