Experts have taken to social media to explain why 'deltacron' is not a real variant after panic began to spread online.
After reports of a new strain, many people flooded to apps such as Facebook, Twitter and TIkTok to express their concern over a combination of two existing variants.
The name of the so-called new variant was dubbed 'deltacron' after it was thought that the delta and omicron strain managed to combine themselves.
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However despite this having been debunked by many health experts, the scientist who reported the initial findings still insists it was not in fact an error.
Dr Leonidos Kostrikis, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus, told the Cypriot channel Sigma TV that he and his colleagues have identified 25 cases of the so-called 'deltacron' variant, which has resulted in 11 people being hospitalised.
After hearing the news, one expert took to social media stating that the variant is not real and simply an error due to contamination.
Dr Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases researcher for the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it was indeed an error.
She tweeted: "Okay people let’s make this a teachable moment, there is no such thing as #Deltacron (Just like there is no such thing as #Flurona) #Omicron and #Delta did NOT form a super variant.
"This is likely sequencing artifact (lab contamination of omicron fragments in a delta specimen)."
A virologist from the Imperial Department of Infectious Disease also weighed in on the debate and explained that a lab, for example, may have been dealing with delta and then omicron.
As a result, when new variants arrive at, sequencing labs, contamination could very well happen as is "not uncommon" with only a small amount of liquid needed to cause the error. As a result, this could very well look like a new variant.
So from what is being reported by the majority of those who work in the covid-related field is that 'deltacron' is in fact not real.
When new variants arrive at sequencing labs, contamination is not uncommon (a very small volume of liquid can cause it) – just that typically these fairly obviously contaminated sequences are not reported by major media outlets.
