Delta-plus more transmissible than original variant

ISLAMABAD: South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that it had recorded at least two cases of the new coronavirus delta-plus variant, which some experts believe to be more transmissible than the original delta variant that was first detected in India and has since thwarted plans for returning to life before the pandemic.

But what do we know about “delta plus,” yet another new variant causing alarm among governments and health officials? First identified in Europe in March, the variant is also known as B. 1.617.2.1 or AY.1.

It has been detected in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and India, international media reported.

Last month, experts in India labelled the variant one of concern and warned that it appeared to be more transmissible than most. Citing studies, the country’s health ministry said that the variant has the ability to bind more easily to lung cells and could be resistant to therapies used to treat the infection. Science and technology minister Jitendra Singh announced Friday that up to 70 cases of the delta-plus variant were detected in genome sequencing as of July 23. How India has weathered the devastation of the delta variant and how it has named the delta-plus variant as one of concern should place public health leaders on notice, said James EK Hildreth, president and chief executive of Meharry Medical College.

The variant was listed as one of concern by the international health agency, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it will continue to evaluate its independent classification.

However, Melita Vujnovic, World Health Organisation representative to Russia, said last month that face coverings and vaccinations will be needed to fight the latest variant. Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Europe was still “on thin ice” and expressed caution that authorities across the continent should remain “cautiously optimistic.” In the United Kingdom, where more than 72 percent of adults have been fully vaccinated, the delta variant has accounted for nearly all new infections, even though coronavirus cases overall are on the decline.

At least 39 confirmed cases of the delta-plus variant have been found in the country, along with six probable ones, according to a July briefing from Public Health England.

The virus has not appeared to have gained intense traction on British soil, said Colin Angus, a public health policy modeler and analyst in England.

The “plus” of the variant’s name refers to its K417N spike protein mutation, which was also found in some substrains of the alpha variant — the dominant strain in the country before the delta variant — but the substrains never got a foothold, he explained.

Richard Novak, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Illinois Health, said it is too soon to say how the delta-plus variant could evade vaccines or whether it is more infectious than the original.