MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. The possibility of getting infected with two coronavirus strains at once exists yet it’s a rare condition, head of the Yekaterinburg Research Institute of Viral Infections (an affiliate of the Vector Center of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) Alexander Semyonov told TASS.
"The possibility of a person being infected simultaneously with two coronavirus strains, of course, exists but these are rather rare events," he said.
According to the expert, different viral mutations affect various human organs in a different way.
"When the coronavirus infection had just emerged here, first the Wuhan variant, then the British one, [they] had the loss of the sense of smell as one of the main signs of the coronavirus infection, that is, the central nervous system (CNS) was being affected, striking the olfactory receptors," he added.
Earlier, Russian chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova reported that as of now, 98% of detected coronavirus cases are the Delta strain. Semyonov noted that for this strain, the loss of the sense of smell was not the main characteristic, it multiplies more actively in the respiratory tract. "That is why rhinorrhea begins faster in people, that is, an uncontrollable runny nose, pneumonia develops more quickly in them, that is, the virus submerges deeper," he added.