Knowing COVID-19 Delta Variant Characteristics Explained By Pulmonary Specialist At RSUI

RSUI (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Pulmonary specialist from the University of Indonesia Hospital (RSUI) dr. Gatut Priyonugroho, Sp.P. stated the difference between the Delta variant of COVID-19 (from India) and other variants, including the level of transmission.

"The Alpha variant of the COVID-19 virus from the UK can be transmitted from one person to six people, and the delta variant from one person infects eight people. These numbers are not accurate (for sure), but illustrate how easily the new COVID-19 variant is transmitted, " said dr. Gatut as reported by Antara, Tuesday, July 13.

Gatut also explained that if someone who has been infected with COVID-19 is vaccinated, the antibodies will rise, except for the Delta variant.

"When he has been exposed to the Delta variant, he continues to be vaccinated, then the effectiveness is not as good as someone who has not been exposed to this type of variant," said Gatut.

He suggests cleaning the room is more important than disinfection. "If our hands are dirty, don't just disinfect them but also clean them. Clean them first with soap, because this is the safest way to break down the structure of the virus that lands on our hands," said Gatut.

The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus has almost the same symptoms as other variants, namely fever (94 percent), cough (79 percent), shortness of breath (55 percent), phlegm (23 percent), body aches (15 percent), fatigue (23 percent), headache (8 percent), rhinorrhea (7 percent), coughing up blood (5 percent), diarrhea (5 percent), anosmia (3 percent), and nausea (4 percent). If a person has mild COVID-19, he or she is generally fine (0.1 percent severe).

Gatut straightens out the misconception in society that COVID-19 survivors (those who have recovered from COVID-19) will be more immune to the virus.

"Those who have been exposed to COVID-19 do not mean that they have developed antibodies, but it is also a sign that they are proven to be susceptible to COVID-19, because the virus is compatible with their bodies so they can easily enter. So we also find cases of people infected with the COVID-19 virus quite often for the second time," said dr. Gatut Priyonugroho.

He revealed that based on information sourced from WHO, patients can be released from isolation after ten days of being positive for SARS CoV2 (asymptomatic), and ten days after the onset of symptoms and free of symptoms (symptomatic).

People who are free from self-isolation and isolation in hospitals, must continue to comply with health protocols and apply a clean and healthy lifestyle.

The COVID-19 presentation was delivered in a webinar event by the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, University of Indonesia (FIA UI) in collaboration with the UI Hospital (RSUI) via a webinar with the theme "Knowing more about the Delta Variant COVID-19".

The Dean of FIA UI, Prof. Chandra Wijaya emphasized that with the increasing number of positive cases in Indonesia, tightening health protocols is a must.

"The COVID-19 virus exists. If recently we have heard from the news that many have suffered from COVID-19, now we hear from our WhatsApp Group, our relatives, our loved ones who have contracted COVID-19 understand about COVID-19 and how to prevent and deal with it," said Prof. Chandra.