CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The delta variant is spreading quickly across the United States but what makes this COVID-19 mutation so dangerous?
Let's connect the dots.
Here are some of the key differences from the original strain that make delta very good at spreading from person to person.
This COVID-19 variant has an incubation period of four days instead of six, so people are contagious earlier. That means patients could infect more people before even knowing they're sick.
The delta variant also has more of the spike proteins you see on the outside of coronavirus particles.
More spike proteins are bad news because those are what the virus uses to invade cells.
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And delta has a much higher viral load than original COVID-19. People infected with delta are carrying 1,000 virus particles in their respiratory tract.
The good news is, scientists, don't believe the delta variant is any more lethal than other strains of COVID-19.
The severity of the disease is similar to the original, but that doesn't mean it can't be more deadly. Delta can infect so many more people, and quickly unless we stop the spread.
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