Is Delta plus more dangerous? Everything you know about Delta plus Variant | Symptoms | Vaccine Effectiveness on Delta Plus

 

 

Delta plus is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant, it acquired the spike protein mutation called K417. Scientist and doctors worry that the mutation could make it more transmissible or may be responsible for third wave.

COVID 19 delta plus variant found in 11 nations, says Health secretary.

In India 12 states have been reported Delta variant, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of cases at 22, the Centre said on Friday. The government said there are now 51 cases of Delta Plus.

Sujeet Singh, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said "there is a very limited number of cases of the Delta Plus mutation". "There are 22 cases of Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus in Maharashtra, followed by nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Karnataka", Sujeet Singh added.

"There are nearly 50 cases that are found in 12 districts and this has happened in the last three months. It cannot be said that in any district or state it is showing an increasing trend. Till the time we don't correlate this we will not say this is a rising trend because its mutations are the same as Delta variant," Singh said during a health ministry briefing on Friday.

 What is Delta plus Variant

Delta plus is a sub lineage of Delta variant which first detected in India. it has mutation the mutation called K417N- first found in beta variant in South Africa. 

“The mutation K417N has been of interest as it is present in the Beta variant (B.1.351 lineage), which was reported to have immune evasion property,” India’s health ministry said in a statement.

Symptoms of Delta plus Variant

Symptoms for this variant include-

• Dry cough

• Diarrhoea

• Fever

• Headache

• Skin rash

• Discolouration of fingers and toes

• Chest pain
  

• and shortness of breath, among others.

   

  Are COVID-19 vaccines effective against the Delta Plus variant?

   Addressing a press conference, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said that "

  "Covishield reduces slightly with Alpha, by 2.5 times. For the Delta variant, Covaxin is effective but antibody response is slightly reduced to three-fold reduction, and for Covishield, it is two-fold reduction, while in Pfizer and Moderna it is seven-fold reduction," he said.

  "However, Covishield and Covaxin work against the variants of SARS-CoV-2- Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta — that is well established for these two vaccines," Bhargava said.

  "The Delta Plus variant has also been isolated and cultured at ICMR-NIV, and laboratory tests to check vaccine effect on Delta Plus variant are ongoing. We should have these results in seven-10 days as to whether the vaccine is working against the Delta Plus variant," he said.