98% infected with Delta variant in country: Study

Around 98 percent Covid-19 patients of the country were infected with the highly transmissible Delta variant in the month of July.

A study of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) disclosed this on Thursday.

BSMMU Vice-Chancellor and Supervisor of Genome Sequencing Research Project Prof Dr Sharfuddin Ahmed unveiled the findings of Covid-19 genome sequencing at a press conference.

The research was conducted through the representative sampling of 300 Covid-19 patients from all the divisions, between June 30 and July 30. Of them, 53 percent were male.

BSMMU carried out the research on patients aged nine months to 90 years -- mostly between 30 and 39.

According to the first-month findings of the BMSSU Covid-19 genome sequencing research, the mortality rate is higher among patients with comorbidities, i.e. diabetes, cancer, respiratory and lung diseases.

The variant, also known as B.1.617.2, has spread fast in the country, wreaking havoc across Bangladesh as it has done across the world.

The rest of the variants found in the collected swab sample sequencing in the country were the South African variant (B.1.351) and the newfound Nigerian variant (B.1.525).

Earlier, the Alpha or the UK variant was dominant in December 2020 and Beta or the South African variant extracted the most toll in March 2021.

There is high risk of death if Covid patients above 60 are infected a second time, Prof Dr Sharfuddin Ahmed added.