Covid-19: What Do We Know About The New Delta Plus Variant Discovered In India?

NEW MUTATION - The Indian government indicates this Wednesday that it has placed three states on alert due to the appearance of a new variant: the Delta Plus.

YEET MAGAZINE

Jun 25, 2021 • 12 min read

Health

By YEET MAGAZINE | Posted 2:15 a.m. ET, June 25, 2021

NEW MUTATION - The Indian government indicates this Wednesday that it has placed three states on alert due to the appearance of a new variant: the Delta Plus. Classified as "worrying", it would be even more aggressive than the Delta variant.

Is the end of the tunnel as close as you might imagine? In an alarming statement, the Indian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that it had placed three states on alert due to the appearance of a new variant: the Delta Plus. A mutation of the Delta variant, it has been classified as "of concern" by the Indian health authorities.

"Based on the recent findings of the Indian Genomic Consortium on SARS-CoV-2 (INSACOG), the Ministry of Health has alerted and recommended vigilance in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh regarding the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19, observed in some districts of these states, " the statement said.

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According to The Times of India , this new variant is a cousin of the Delta variant which would have acquired the mutation of the Spike protein called K417N, also present in the South African variant.

The characteristics of Delta Plus are of particular concern to Insacog, a consortium of 28 public laboratories responsible for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 mutations and quickly delivering information on the appropriate public health measures to be adopted to deal with them. Delta Plus is believed to exhibit greater transmissibility, increased targeting of lung cells and reduced antibody efficacy.

Already present in at least 10 countries

So far, this Delta Plus variant has been detected in 40 people in India, reports The Times of India . "Some of these contaminations date back to April, but the genome sequencing was only carried out last weekend , " the newspaper said.

Two cases were notably reported in Mumbai on April 5 and 15, suggesting that the variant circulated in the city of more than 12 million people for at least two months. "Most of the infected people were not vaccinated," the daily said.

Beyond India, the Delta Plus variant had already been spotted, as of June 16, in ten other countries. 83 cases have been reported in the United States, one in Canada, 36 cases in the United Kingdom, 9 in Poland, 22 in Portugal, 15 in Japan, 3 in Nepal, one in Russia, one in Turkey and 18 in Switzerland. For the moment, no death has been attributed to this mutation.

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While the rapid spread of the Delta variant across the world raises concerns, this news further dampens hopes for a peaceful return to school. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Delta variant, around 60% more contagious than the Alpha variant, is expected to account for 90% of new cases in the EU by the end of August.

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Concerns in the Landes, contaminations on the rise in the United Kingdom ... The new version of Sars-Cov-2 rightly worries the UK government, which hopes to mitigate the threat thanks to vaccines.

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 31, 2021 shows a nurse preparing a syringe of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center, in Garlan, western France. - Thirty million of French people, on June 12, 2021, have received at least one dose of vaccine against Covid-19, announced Prime Minister Jean Castex, who called for "winning the battle against the virus". (Fred Tanneau / AFP)

Yet everything was ready for the holidays. The post-crisis had been declared, the life before ("which we had missed so much") celebrated, the forgotten curfew, Justin Bieber consulted, all that was missing was to pack the bags and choose the destination. But the pandemic had not said its last word. Emmanuel Macron therefore had to ask the French for the umpteenth time to be vigilant Thursday, announcing to the European Council in Brussels, "the delta variant is coming",as winter is announced in dystopian series. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the variant previously called "Indian" will account for 70% of new infections in the EU by early August, and 90% by the end of the holidays. It is therefore indeed a new pandemic threat, and the list of countries that are forced to return to health measures that have been forgotten is growing hour by hour.

The worrying situation in the UK, for example, is causing a cold sweat. In a few weeks, the delta variant infected more than 130,000 people. As France is fifty-five days behind what is happening across the Channel, according to our comparison of vaccination data, the executive's concern is understandable.

How to avoid a new leap? RNA vaccines are extremely effective, even against new variants, and the Prime Minister is therefore right to repeat all day long that the effort must be continued. Chosen administratively, the letter delta is the initial of the Greek word diaphorá, “difference”. This difference must be made quickly and efficiently so that the start of the 2021 school year is not as nightmarish as that of the previous year.

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This variant, which was first detected in India, is well on its way to becoming the dominant variant globally, according to the WHO.

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In addition to its contagious nature, several laboratory studies show that it seems to be more resistant to vaccines than other variants. The Delta variant has been reported in 14 African countries and the Beta and Alpha variants have been found in more than 25 African countries, according to WHO Africa.

The explanations with Emmanuel André, microbiologist and professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

Volume 90% Listen to audio02:13

"There is always a risk of seeing an increase in infections, when a new variant becomes dominant"

The Delta variant of the coronavirus, responsible in particular, has increased significantly. What are the latest updates on this variant? What should we fear?

We observe in a certain number of European countries, but also in North America, for example, that the Delta variant, which was initially detected in India, has completely replaced the Alpha variant and it is probably what will happen or what is happening in a number of African countries, although the ability to monitor the presence and frequency of certain variants is sometimes made more difficult. Because these are laboratory analyzes which are complex, which are not widely accessible on the African continent.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is also responsible for a rebound in contamination. What should be feared today in relation to this variant?

What we do not observe compared to the Delta variant is that it is more contagious. So, it will spread more easily from one person to another compared to the previous variants. But there is also a greater risk of hospitalization when you are infected. This risk of hospitalization is greatly reduced when people are vaccinated, but it remains present when people are not vaccinated.

Can this variant have an impact on vaccination? Can it limit its effectiveness?

The vaccine when it was given completely with the two doses, will remain very effective against this variant. But in a population which is only partially vaccinated, or even almost unvaccinated in a certain number of African countries, this variant will be characterized by a capacity to be transmitted much more quickly than other variants.

DW: Should we fear other mutations in the coronavirus today?

Dr. Emmanuel André : there is always a risk of seeing an increase in the number of infections when a new variant becomes dominant. When a variant becomes dominant, it is because it is more contagious than the others. And so, in a society that is organized to prevent a resurgence in the number of infections compared to a variant that was less contagious, these same preventive measures will sometimes not be enough to contain the emergence of a new variant.

NEW MUTATION - The Indian government indicates this Wednesday that it has placed three states on alert due to the appearance of a new variant: the Delta Plus. Classified as "worrying", it would be even more aggressive than the Delta variant.

Capable of reducing the effectiveness of antibodies

Already present in at least 10 countries

READ ALSO

Concerns in the Landes, contaminations on the rise in the United Kingdom ... The new version of Sars-Cov-2 rightly worries the UK government, which hopes to mitigate the threat thanks to vaccines.

Coronavirus: concerns around the Delta variant

"There is always a risk of seeing an increase in infections, when a new variant becomes dominant"

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