WHO with new virus names: "Alpha" dominates Norway
And that's not B.1.617.2 or the "Indian variant" they fear in Trondheim. According to the WHO, the variant should be called "Delta".
For now, the group of experts as the World Health Organization (WHO) has come up with its recommendations.
Politicians, media and experts around the world have faced a dilemma when it comes to discussing new variants of the coronavirus.
Also read our next article: Health risks.
Since 2015, the WHO guidelines state that geography should be avoided when defining new diseases such as "Spanish Flu" and "Indian cholera".
Według India Today, Indian authorities strongly opposed naming this variety "Indian"
Therefore, in research environments, the name of a genetic subgroup was used, such as B.1.1.7 or B. 1.617.2.
"Countries should not be stigmatized for discovering and communicating about new varieties," says a message from WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
But it is easier to stand at a press conference and talk to people about the difference between "Indian" and "English" than to use B.1.1.7 and B. 1.617.2. Former US President Donald Trump has often called the coronavirus "the Chinese virus." Geographical names have been used frequently all over the world.
. WHO now recommends using these names:
| WHO-navn | Forst oppdaget i | Genetisk undergroup | I definetly am: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha (evt. Alfa på norsk) | Storbritannia | B.1.1.7 | bekymringsvariant |
| Beta | South Africa | B.1.351 | bekymringsvariant |
| Gamma | Brazil | P.1 | bekymringsvariant |
| Delta | India | B.1.617.2 | bekymringsvariant |
| Epsilon | USA | B.1.427 / B.1.429 | Variant av interested |
| Zeta | Brazil | P.2 | Variant av interested |
| Eta | Flereland | B.1.525 | Variant av interested |
| Theta | Filippinene | P.3 | Variant av interested |
| Iota | USA | B.1.526 | Variant av interested |
| Kappa | India | B.1.617.1 | Variant av interested |
The WHO expert group believes that these names will be simpler and avoid stigmatization.
Then the question is which names will be used at the next press conference with the Minister of Health and Welfare, the Norwegian Directorate of Health and NIPH.
When asked if he wants to use the new names, the assistant to the director of health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad, replies:
- WHO nomenclature is commonly used worldwide. A good example is the renaming of the coronavirus in winter 2020 from 2019-nCoV to SARS-CoV-2.
“I'm not sure if the new virus mutation names will last over time, simply because there are new sub-variants constantly emerging that also need to be described in one way or another. Then there can be many variations of the letters. Moreover, the current codification is largely included in the laboratory environments that deal with sequencing. So it remains to be seen if the new names will be easier in the long run.
