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Understanding the COVID-19 Delta Variant

OSU Research Matters is a bi-weekly look inside the work of Oklahoma State University faculty, staff and students. In this episode, Meghan Robinson speaks with Dr. Jennifer Rudd, a faculty member at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rudd has her PhD in pandemic influenza and specializes in human infectious disease. Her research has focused on COVID-19 and, most recently, understanding the delta variant.

TRANSCRIPT:

ROBINSON: What is a variant?

RUDD: A variant is a variation of an original virus. So, we had an original virus present several months ago. Mutations happen over time, in particular with the types of virus that we see right now with COVID. Those mutations happen. Some od them make the virus better at surviving, some don’t, and those ones don’t stick around. The ones that improve survivability, stick around. That's what we’re dealing with right now with this variant.

ROBINSON: What were you anticipating as far as variants go because you could not have been surprised when delta emerged.

RUDD: Oh, not at all. So, we deal with coronaviruses in particular all the time in veterinary medicine, and so we see these RNA viruses, these types of viruses mutate all the time. They’re known for doing this. On the other side of that, I will say that even though we can fully anticipate variants and changes over time, the position that we are currently in with delta variant was preventable. The severity that we see right now with it predictable based on some of the decisions we made early on, but also preventable.

ROBINSON: How was it preventable?

RUDD: So, if we had had better adherence with public health mitigation measures early in the pandemic, we could’ve created enough roadblocks for that virus to actually slow the spread. The more you slow the spread of a virus, the more you slow the emergence of variants with it as well. So, if we could’ve kept this under control when our treatments and preventive measures were even more effective, then we wouldn’t be in this position.

ROBINSON: Are we still in a position where we can prevent another variant of COVID-19?

RUDD: So I think the ship’s already sailed on that. We already have other variants beyond delta. That being said, there’s a whole lot that we can do that would make delta the worst of the end. You know, this could be the big finish where we start to push this out of the pandemic level and to a level that is much more manageable and controllable.

ROBINSON: As a researcher, how do you go about identifying variants?

RUDD: So we sequence these. So, we actually look at their genetic code and, in particular, at the code that really says how to make those proteins that our immune system responds to. So, that’s what’s happen with these variants. Viruses change over time, but, if they change the proteins that our immune system is recognizing in the first place, that’s where we start to see our immune system getting tricked and fooled into not doing as great of a job as it would have initially. That’s what we see with delta variant. Those are the proteins that are changing, and so we sequence those, and we look at those, and we look at that structure, and we can see those changes from that.

ROBINSON: As a researcher and an expert in this area, what do you recommend as far as the best way to prevent the delta variant from getting worse or getting it yourself?

RUDD: By far the best thing to do at this point is to get vaccinated. Vaccination is still incredibly effective, especially at preventing hospitalization and severe disease, but even effective at the point of preventing some infection as well. And so, because of that effect, that creates a roadblock for this variant. On top of vaccination, because we’re seeing some immune responses not being as great as the used to be at the start, masking covers that gap. Masking is not a 100% thing. You can’t do only that, but if you add it in with other roadblocks like trying to stay isolated, quarantining, not going out into public when you’re sick and then masking, those are the things that can slow this highly transmissible variant down.

ROBINSON: For OSU Research Matters, I’m Meghan Robinson.

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Meghan Robinson is the host of OSU Research Matters and the Multimedia Reporter/ Producer for Inside OSU, the official streaming platform of Oklahoma State University.
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