Remembering the scientific names of the COVID-19 variants, for example B.1.167, B.1.351, is very difficult, but the WHO will simplify things by giving them the names of the Greek letters as well.
“Although they have their advantages, these scientific names can be difficult to pronounce and remember, and are prone to misreporting,” the WHO said, explaining its decision.
The idea is to have names “easy to pronounce and remember,” but also to prevent the general public and the press from using names that “stigmatize and discriminate,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
Historically, viruses have often been associated with the places from which they are believed to have arisen, such as Ebola, which is named after the Congolese river of the same name.
But this can be detrimental to places and often inaccurate, as in the case of the so-called “Spanish flu” of 1918, the origins of which are unknown.
“No country should be stigmatized for detecting and reporting variants,” said WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
In the United States, for example, attacks against people of Asian descent increased and Donald Trump, who was president in 2020, did his best to impeach China, where the new coronavirus was first detected.
The choice of the Greek alphabet came after months of deliberation in which experts considered other possibilities, such as Greek gods and made-up and pseudo-classical names, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen, who participated in the talks.
But many were already brands, companies or names of foreigners.
“The nomenclature systems established to name and trace the genetic lineages of SARS-CoV-2 by GISAID, Nextrain and Pango are and will continue to be used by scientists and in scientific research,” the WHO indicated in its statement, but the agency already you will not use these names in your daily communication.
In this way, variant B.1.1.7, previously identified in the United Kingdom, was named Alpha, B.1.351, identified for the first time in South Africa, became Beta and variant P.1, detected in Brazil, Gamma .
The WHO also gave two different names to the subvariants of B.1.617 that devastated India and spread to other countries: B.1.617.2 was called Delta and B.1.617.1 Kappa.
This variant has been officially detected in 53 territories, according to a WHO report published on Wednesday.
However, the world’s highest authority on health has received information from unofficial sources indicating that the Delta and Kappa subvariants have been found in seven other territories, according to updated weekly epidemiological figures, bringing the number to 60.
According to the report, the subvariants Delta and Kappa have been shown to be more contagious, while the degree of severity and risk of infection are investigated.
“The WHO and its international networks of experts are monitoring changes in the virus so that, if significant mutations are identified, we can inform countries and the public of any changes necessary to react to the variant and prevent its spread,” says the United Nations agency on its website.
With information from AFP and Reuters-
